Lucanus cervus is the best-known species of stag beetle (family Lucanidae) in Western Europe, and is sometimes referred to simply as the stag beetle. In the UK, it is associated with urban gardens, but it is more commonly found in forests in the rest of Europe. Forest management, in eliminating old trees and dead wood, eliminates at the same time the habitat and food of this species. Once quite common, the population of the L. cervus, along with that of other species of beetles which feed on dead wood, is in decline, and is now listed as a globally threatened/declining species.