The fallow deer (Dama dama) is a ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. This common species is native to Europe, but has been introduced to Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, South Africa, Fernando Pó, São Tomé, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mayotte, Réunion, Seychelles, Comoro Islands, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Cyprus, Israel, Cape Verde, Lebanon, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, the Falkland Islands, and Peru.^[2] Some taxonomers include the rarer Persian fallow deer as a subspecies (D. d. mesopotamica),^[3] while others treat it as an entirely different species (D. mesopotamica).^[1]