Red Deer and Fallow Deer at Great Ocean Road Wildlife Park

I grew up in Hungary, where deer are part of everyday life. You see them at the edge of the forest, and you see them on the road. They move from one place to another whenever they like, and the road is simply in their way. Every driver there learns to be careful in the dark, and most of all during the mating season, when the deer think about everything except traffic.

Then I moved to Australia, and for two decades I did not see a single deer. They are not a usual animal here. The role is filled, of course, by the kangaroo, which crosses roads at dusk with exactly the same disregard for cars.

So when I walked into Great Ocean Road Wildlife Park in February 2024 and saw a herd of deer on a dry summer hillside, it felt a little like meeting old neighbours on the other side of the world.

Lucky Timing: Feeding Time

I had spent the first part of the afternoon with the park's Australian animals, which I wrote about in Lazy Wallabies, Watchful Dingoes and an Unimpressed Emu. When I reached the deer I got lucky: it was feeding time.

All the deer came in for the food, and then they stayed close. For a photographer that changes everything. Animals that would otherwise be small shapes on a far hillside were suddenly near enough for portraits.

The viewing area helped as well. The deer kept moving from one part of their paddock to another, and from the viewing area I could follow them and photograph from different angles, with a different background each time.

The Fallow Deer: Blink and They Are Gone

Most of the herd are fallow deer: spotted does, dark-coated youngsters, bucks with their first spike antlers, and fawns sticking close to their mothers.

They are beautiful, and they are quick. A fallow deer stands perfectly still, looks at you, and half a second later it is somewhere else. I had to concentrate on those sudden movements and be fast with the shutter. Many frames from that afternoon show an empty patch of grass where a deer had been a moment before.

The ones that worked are the ones I am happiest with. The leaping fawns, the doe with her fawn and the young bucks all became part of my deer wall art collection.

The Red Deer Stag: He Knew He Was the Star

And then there was the red deer stag.

He did not rush anywhere. He knew this was his territory, and he behaved like it. While the fallow deer darted around him, he walked out into the open, stopped, and showed himself like a star arriving on stage.

Then he posed. Front on. Side on. Head turned, so I could appreciate the full spread of the antlers. He gave me all the time I needed, which no other deer that afternoon had any intention of doing. What a magnificent animal.

From the Park to the Wall

I spent the rest of the afternoon with the deer and left when the park closed. The photos from those hours became two things:

• The Deer Slim Wall Calendar, a vertical slim calendar with twelve of the deer photos taken here.
• The Deer Wall Art & Canvas Prints collection: red deer stags and fallow deer on stretched canvas, including the Red Deer Stag and Doe and the Fallow Deer Doe and Fawn.

If you like wildlife on your walls more generally, the rest is in wildlife prints.

Visiting the Deer

Great Ocean Road Wildlife Park is at 29 The Boulevarde, Gellibrand Lower, Victoria, a short detour inland from the Great Ocean Road. Check the park's website for current opening hours and feeding times.

If you are coming with a camera, try to be at the deer for feeding time. It brings the whole herd close, and they stay nearby afterwards. Use the viewing area to change your angle as they move, keep your finger on the shutter for the fallow deer, and save some patience for the red stag. He will make it worth your while.