Mario Melletti (BSc, MSc, PhD) is an Italian freelance wildlife biologist and member of the African Buffalo Initiative Group and the Wild Pig Specialist Group, both part of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. During his PhD studies he worked at the Department of Animal and Human Biology of the University of Rome "La Sapienza", Italy and at the Department of Conservation Biology of the Estación Biólogica de Doñana (CSIC-EBD) Sevilla, Spain. For about two and a half years, he has been studying the ecology and behaviour of the forest buffalo in the Central African Republic. Mario has conducted research on a number of other large mammals and has participated in several projects and surveys on African mammals. He has also worked in other African countries including Burkina Faso, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In 2010, he began working with Cambridge University Press as an editor of a series of books on the conservation and management of large mammals. Books Mario has edited with Cambridge University Press include Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour of Wild Cattle: Implications for Conservation (2014), Ecology, Conservation and Management of Wild Pigs and Peccaries (2017), Bears of the World: Ecology, Conservation and Management (2020). Mario has also edited the following books published by Springer Nature: Tapirs of the World: Ecology, Conservation and Management (2024), Rhinos of the World: Ecology, Conservation and Management (2025) and Movement Ecology of Afrotropical Forest Mammals (2023). He is the author of about 70 scientific publications and book chapters.

Stefano Focardi is a senior researcher at the Institute for Complex Systems of the CNR in Florence, Italy, where he leads the large mammal research team. He is also Professor of Vertebrate Zoology at the University of Florence and Invited Professor at the University of Lyon, France. He also leads a collaboration with INRA in Toulouse, France. He is the author of 110 scientific articles and 26 environmental management documents. He is also the scientific coordinator of EUROBOAR, a European organisation for research into the biology of wild boar, and an active member of the EURODEER INITIATIVE. He is a specialist in the biology of roe deer and fallow deer and has organised several international meetings on these two cervid species. His current research interests include ungulate demography, avian and mammalian movement ecology, and population assessment.

The first comprehensive work ever published on all 54 deer species worldwide

Provides a comprehensive overview on deer systematics, ecology, management and conservation

Summarizes the work of more than 130 leading international experts from nearly 30 countries

Part I. Systematics, Evolution and Behaviour.- Phylogeny and Systematic of Cervidae.- The Extinction of Pleistocene Deer.- Evolutionary Meaning of Antlers.- Part II Species Accounts.- European Fallow Deer (Dama Dama).- Persian Fallow Deer (Dama Mesopotamica).- Hangul Deer/Tarim Red Deer (Cervus hangul).- Wapiti (Cervus Canadensis).- Sika Deer (Cervus Nippon).- Red Deer (Cervus Elaphus).- Javan Deer (Rusa Timorensis).- Sambar Deer (Rusa Unicolor).- Visayan Spotted Deer/Philippine Spotted Deer (Rusa Alfredi).- Philippine Deer (Rusa Marianna).- Pére David's Deer (Elaphurus Davidianus).- Eld's Deer (Rucervus Eldii).- Bawean Deer (Axis Kuhlii).- Hog Deer (Axis Porcinus).- Chital/Axis Deer (Axis Axis).- Calamian Deer (Axis Calamianensis).- Barasingha (Rucervus Duvaucelii).- Black Muntjac (Muntiacus Crinifrons).- Bornean Yellow Muntjac (MuntiacusAtherodes).- Fea's Muntjac (Muntiacus Feae).- Southern Red Muntjac (Muntiacus Muntjac).- Gongshan Muntjac (Muntiacus Gongshanensis).- Leaf Muntjac (Muntiacus Putaoensis).- Annamite Muntjac (Muntiacus Truongsonensis).- Roosevelt's Muntjac (Muntiacus Rooseveltorum).- Lange-Aantlered Muntjac (Muntiacus Vuquangensis).- Reeves's Muntjac (Muntiacus Reevesi).- Puhoat Muntjac (Muntiacus Puhoatensis).- Northern Red Muntjac (Muntiacus Vaginalis).- Sumatran Mountain Muntjac (Muntiacus Montanus).- Tufted Deer (Elaphodus Cephalophus).- Peruvian/Common Dwarf Brocket (Mazama Chunyi).- Gray Brocket (Mazama Gouazoubira).- North Andean Huemul/Taruca (Hippocamelus Antisensis).- South Andean Huemul/Patagonian Huemul (Hippocamelus Bisulcus).- Pampas Deer (Ozotocerus Bezoarticus).- Amazonian Brown Brocket (Mazama Nemorivaga).- Southern Pudu (Pudu Puda).- Marsh Deer(Blastocerus Dichotomus).- Red Brocket (Mazama Americana).- Brazilian Dwarf Brocket (Mazama Nana).- Small Red Brocket (Mazama Bororo).- Central American Red Brocket (Mazama Temama).- Mule Deer (Odocoileus Hemionus).- White Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus).- Yucatan Brown Brocket (Mazama Pandora).- Dwarf Red Brocket (Mazama Rufina).- Reindeer/Caribou (Rangifer Tarandus).- Northern Pudu (Pudu Mephistophiles).- Roe Deer (Capreoleus Capreoleus).- Siberian Roe Deer (Capreoleus Pygargus).- Water Deer (Hydropotes Inermis).- Moose (Alces Alces).- Part III. Conservation and Management.- Deer Conservation in Asia and South America.- Conservation Genetics of Deer.- Disease of Cervids.- Impact of Hunting on Deer Populations.- Status and Management of Non-native Deer.- Impact of Deer on Forest Conservation.- Deer Farming: History, Economical Importance and Welfare.