Red deer rutting stags undergo extreme physiological stress during the autumn rut, with welfare implications from exhaustion, injury, and post-rut starvation risk.
The red deer rut represents a natural period of extreme physiological stress for stags. While this stress is a natural product of their evolutionary biology, management decisions can either mitigate or exacerbate their welfare implications. Stags injured during rutting fights that survive but cannot recover require welfare assessment and potentially humane killing. Post-rut management that provides appropriate habitat for winter recovery reduces starvation risk from rut-depleted body condition.