During a water vole habitat visit to a private site on Hamford Water, Essex Wildlife Trust’s Water for Wildlife Officer was shown some camera trap video of Chinese water deer Hydropotes inermis in reedbed habitat on the site. Several videos of a female (see still above) were recorded by Gavin Shiell during Spring 2015 although male and female deer had been observed on the site since at least September 2014. This was the first confirmed population of Chinese water deer in Essex.

Chinese water deer are a small, primitive type of deer originating from China and Korea with few distinguishing markings, and a teddy-bear-like appearance. The males sport long tusks and, as their name suggests, they tend to be found in wetter habitats. They were introduced to the UK in the 1800s and subsequently escaped from captivity to form small populations centred around East Anglia. In the Mammals of Suffolk, Simone Bullion wrote that although a population was known in Bedfordshire, the Suffolk distribution was mainly confined to the east, and more specifically, in grazing marshes to the east of Martlesham. Recent anecdotal records from the Stour Valley at Scotland Street and Stutton, however, suggest a possible route of travel into Essex from Suffolk, although exactly how they arrived on Hamford Water unobserved is still not known.

Have you seen this species in Essex? Please contact us if you think you may have seen this species, or report the sighting online (a photograph will be required to confirm the id).