Wild deer and swan responded (8)
I believe the answer is:
answered
'responded' is the definition.
(answering is a kind of responding)
'wild deer and swan' is the wordplay.
'wild' indicates an anagram.
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'deer' after 'swan' is 'swandeer'.
'swandeer' is an anagram of 'ANSWERED'.
(Other definitions for answered that I've seen before include "Satisfied" , "Rejoined" , "Replied or responded" , "Fulfilled" , "Returned" .)