Deer Park Žehušice, Natural monument and protected area in Žehušice, Czech Republic

Deer Park Žehušice is a fenced game reserve on the site of the drained Kravinec pond behind Žehušice Castle, covering about 2.5 km² of meadows and groves around the Doubrava stream. It is a natural monument protecting floodplain forest and meadow communities, old solitary oaks, and a herd of about 130 white and variously coloured deer.

Count Josef Matthias Thun-Hohenstein founded the deer park in 1830 on the drained bed of the Kravinec fish pond beside the French-style castle park. He had obtained white maral deer from Count Kinský in 1804, and the herd, later one of Europe's largest, was bred here until the estate was sold in 1913.

The Czech TV series The Territory of White Deer was filmed here in 1990. The white deer also appear in symbols: King Richard II of England and the Herštejn family used a white stag in their coats of arms. Jaroslav Holeček wrote the book Den bílého jelena about the herd.

The deer park is privately owned and closed to visitors, so it cannot be entered. The surrounding Žehušicko landscape zone, with the castle, farmyard and French-style castle park, can be seen from public paths; the enclosure lies about 15 km east of Kutná Hora.

The white deer descend from animals Count Matthias Thun-Hohenstein obtained from Count Kinsky of Chlumec nad Cidlinou four years after draining the Kravinec pond in 1826. When no new white deer could be acquired, a red deer from a nearby park was released to renew the bloodline; rust-coloured fawns still sometimes produce white offspring.