Conservation of Deer in South America and Asia

Deer are found across the Northern Hemisphere and in South America (with introduced populations in Australia and New Zealand, see Latham et al. in this volume). Issues concerning the conservation of deer are not confined to Asia and South America, but the bulk of deer species are found within these realms, as all but ten species are found within Asia or South America (we exclude species from Eurasia for brevity). Overabundance, and the resultant degradation of ecosystems and biodiversity, is also a conservation concern, but is confined almost exclusively to deer in countries of the Northern Hemisphere and the issues are covered by Tremblay et al. (Chap. 61 of this volume). Few of the problems outlined in this chapter are unique to Asian and South American deer, but we will use examples from these regional species to highlight each issue.