Hello! You can never see any deer as big as us. We are Sambar deer. There are few interesting things about us. Have a look:
- We are the largest deer in the world standing 102cm-160cm.
- We are one of the very few animals with high maternal instincts. Females of our species protect their young ones from threats risking their lives.
- We are territorial deer and males often fight with one another for dominance.
- Do you know? We are the most hunted animal by Bengal Tiger. We are also hunted by many other predators because of our large size. This led to a reduction in our population heavily. Conservation efforts helped in stabilizing our population.
- We are very alert all the time for threats. When faced with threats, we stamp our feet repeatedly. This action is called as pooking or billing.
- Do you know? Our name “sambar” is also used to describe the Philippine deer and Javan Rusa.
- Unlike other deer, we are actually nocturnal that means we are most active during the night.
- We drop our antlers once a year. These antlers are very high priced and used for knife handles and grips for handguns.
SOME QUICK NOTES:
Our Scientific Name: Rusa Unicolor.
Our Identification: Very large deer with yellowish grey coat and dense mane.
Our Habitat: deciduous shrubs and grasses.
Our Range:
Our Food Habits: Herbivorous, feed on wide variety of vegetation, including grasses, foliage, browse, fruit, and water plants, depending on the local habitat.
Our Breeding Period: All around the year.
Number of calves born: 1
Our Gestation period: 8 months.
Our Lifespan: about 12 years in wild; 28 years in captivity.
IUCN red list status: Vulnerable.
CITES: Not listed
Indian Wildlife Protection Act: Schedule III
SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Suborder: Cervidae
Family: Cervinae
Genus: Rusa
Species: R. Unicolor
COMPLETE DETAILS ABOUT US FOR ANIMAL ENTHUSIASTS:
Sambar Deer also called as Philippines deer. We are scientifically called as Rusa Unicolor.
HOW WE LOOK:
In general, we attain a height of 102 to 160 cm (40 to 63 in) at the shoulder and may weigh typically 100 to 350 kg. Head and body length vary from 1.62 to 2.7 m, with a 22 to 35 cm tail.
Our shaggy coat can be from yellowish brown to dark grey in color, and it is usually uniform in color. We also have a small but dense mane, which tends to be more prominent in males. Only males have antlers and are rugged and large.
The antlers are typically up to 110 cm in fully adult individuals. Females are a little smaller than males and the young calves look similar to females.
WE ARE FOUND IN:
We prefer the dense cover of deciduous shrubs and grasses.
We are distributed in much of South Asia as far north as the south-facing slopes of the Himalayas in Nepal and India, in mainland Southeast Asia including Burma, Thailand, Indochina, the Malay Peninsula, South China including Hainan Island, Taiwan, and the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Borneo.
WHAT WE EAT:
We are herbivorous animals. We feed on a wide variety of vegetation, including grasses, foliage, browse, fruit, and water plants, depending on the local habitat. We also consume a great variety of shrubs and trees
OUR REPRODUCTION:
Our breeding period is throughout the year. Females give birth in dense vegetation. Gestation probably lasts around 8 months.
Initially weighing 5 to 8 kg, the calves are usually not spotted, although some of our subspecies have light spots which disappear not long after birth. The young begin to take solid food at 5 to 14 days and begin to ruminate after one month.
We have lived up to 28 years when taken care of in captivity, although we rarely survive more than 12 years in the wild.
MORE ABOUT US:
Like most deer, we are quiet but when alarmed, we yell short pitch sounds.
We generally communicate by scent marking and foot stamping.
Despite not having antlers, the females of our kind protect their offspring risking their lives.
We are prey for many large predators like Tigers, Muggers, leopards, and Dholes.
OUR CONSERVATION:
Though we are a primary source of food for major predators, we are conserved and don’t face the problem of any extinction. We are currently listed as “Vulnerable” in the IUCN Red List.
We are not listed in CITES but are protected under Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 Schedule III.
