You've just hit a roe deer — or you find one injured at the roadside after another vehicle struck it. Your first instinct is to go and help. It's understandable. But in this case, the right first step is the opposite: secure the scene and don't approach the animal.
Why you must not approach
An injured deer is in shock. This means it can appear still and docile — and then suddenly react with powerful kicks or headbutts. An adult roe deer can cause serious fractures to an adult human; an adult red deer can be dangerous.
This isn't aggression: it's a wild animal gripped by terror and pain, perceiving every human presence as a threat. Approaching doesn't reassure it — it frightens it further and worsens the shock.
Keep your distance. Move dogs, other animals and bystanders away. If you're on a main road or motorway, put out your hazard triangle and switch on your hazard lights — an injured animal on the road is a real danger to other vehicles.
Who to call
In order:
- 1515 — the single national number for the Carabinieri Forestali (wildlife police). They're the competent authority for wild fauna across all of Italy, available 24 hours a day.
- Local ASL veterinary service — they have a legal obligation to respond to injured animals on public roads.
- Traffic police if you're on a motorway.
- 112 if there's immediate risk to people.
Most standard wildlife rescue centres don't have facilities suited to a large deer. An adult roe deer requires space, equipment and specialist veterinary expertise. The Carabinieri Forestali and ASL veterinary services know who to hand management over to — it's their job, don't improvise.
What never to do
Don't move the animal. Even if you think you're helping, you may worsen internal fractures you can't see. A displaced bone can lacerate internal organs.
Don't give it water or food. Haemodynamic shock completely disrupts digestion and swallowing. An animal in shock can inhale liquids into the lungs.
Don't put it in your car to take it somewhere yourself. In a confined space, a shocked deer can become dangerous for the driver.
The "abandoned" fawn
In May and June there are many reports of fawns found alone, motionless, apparently "abandoned." In the vast majority of cases they're not.
The female roe deer leaves her fawn hidden in tall grass for hours while she grazes — sometimes all day. It's an evolutionary strategy: the young fawn has almost no scent yet and a predator won't find it if it stays still. The mother returns to nurse it several times a day, often at night.
If you find a fawn alone, don't pick it up. Watch from a distance for at least 4–6 hours. If it's visibly injured, calling persistently, or if you find the mother dead nearby, then call 1515.
A fawn "rescued" through unnecessary intervention almost always becomes an animal with imprinting problems that can never be released back into the wild.
Something worth knowing
The roe deer is the only ungulate in the world with embryonic diapause. After summer mating, the embryo forms normally but then stops — it remains at the blastocyst stage for months, without developing. It resumes growth in winter, and birth takes place in spring. It's a biological mechanism that synchronises birth with the best season, regardless of when mating occurred.
No other ungulate does this.
Law and responsibility
The roe deer is a huntable species under Law 157/1992 (Annex B), but this doesn't mean it's unprotected outside the hunting season. Animal mistreatment is a criminal offence under Art. 544-bis of the Penal Code, regardless of species.
Anyone who hits a wild animal is required to report it to the competent authorities. In many regions this obligation is explicit in regional wildlife management laws. Failing to do so may constitute a violation of road traffic and wildlife legislation.
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