Deer in Gilboa, December 2023/Liron Shapira, Society for the Protection of Nature
This week, Amir Laban from the Society for the Protection of Nature toured the Southern Negev, in the area of the Great Rivers Reserve - vast gravel plains where wide streambeds meander and are dotted with acacia trees.
Laban arrived at a relatively early hour, before all-terrain vehicles enter and met a herd of Negev deer, part of the largest population in Israel, whose habitat is the large rivers.
One of the males stood out unusually, caught his eye and was unimpressed by the nature man's approach.
"Already from a distance you could see that he was special, and suddenly I realized that his horns were a phosphorescent green color, out of this world. I saw that every now and then he approached a bush and hit it with his horns. When I got closer to check, it turned out to be an Arabian pegonia, a familiar desert bush that is common in desert streams, and it has A beautiful purple bloom in the spring. I molted it and felt how wet it was, and that's exactly the color that coated the deer's antlers," says Belvan.
"I saw that every now and then he approached a bush and hit it with his horns."
The deer with the green horns/The Society for the Protection of Nature, Amir in white
"The greener the horns, the bigger and stronger the male"/The Society for the Protection of Nature, Amir Laban
Arabian Pegonia.
A well-known desert shrub that is common in desert streams, and has a beautiful purple bloom in the spring/Society for the Protection of Nature, Amir Laban
Dramatic horns reminiscent of David's harp
The Society for the Protection of Nature states that the Negev deer is a desert deer and smaller than the Israeli Haaretz deer, with a sandy-reddish hue.
Males have dramatic horns reminiscent of David's harp.
One of its distinguishing features is its adaptation to being in deserts without the need to drink water, because it extracts the water it needs from liquids found in the acacia leaves that it usually eats.
The adult males mark the territories with piles of dung and urine, while the females move within the territory in a small herd.
Until the 1960s, the Negev deer population suffered from wild hunting that severely damaged it, and today the Negev deer is a protected wild animal.
"I followed the greenish male for almost 20 minutes as he stood up, patrolling the property and chasing away any other male who tried to approach. I noticed that their horns also had a greenish tint, but not as much as the green-horned male, which really shone from afar. Green horns are not a sign of inexperience, quite the opposite - The greener they are, the bigger and stronger the male is and he has time to invest in cosmetics and whoever approaches his property knows he's in trouble," concludes Belvan.
The deer kills males outside the territory/the Society for the Protection of Nature, Amir in Laban
The Negev deer rubs its antlers on its horn, hence its color/the Society for the Protection of Nature, Amir Laban
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