The sambar deer is the largest deer in the tropical and subtropical regions, with a length of 140 to 260 cm and a weight of 100 to 200 kg. The body hair of the sambar deer is rough and sparse, the back of the male is generally black brown or dark brown, the ventral surface is yellowish white, the female is lighter and slightly redder than the male, and there are also tan and gray-brown individuals. The dark brown longitudinal stripes of the neck along the dorsal midline to the tail are one of the distinguishing features of the sambar deer.
It has a slightly longer face, a bare nose, large, erect ears, larger eyes, and particularly developed suborbital glands. The sides of the tail are densely covered with long fluffy hairs, like a brush. Only the male has long horns on its head, and the horns emerge from the posterior lateral side of the forehead and tilt slightly outward, and the opposite horns form a "U" shape. The angle is simple and triangular. The anterior part of the horn is smoother, the rest is rough, and there is a ring of bony neoplastic process at the base, called the "horn seat", commonly known as the "grinding disc".
Important features that distinguish the sambar deer from other deer species are small horns, few bifurcations, active incisors, and an upside-down retrograde hair on the neck and abdomen that is the size of the palm.
Habits of life
The fawn's habitat is 300-3700 m above sea level and feeds on young grasses, fruits, leaves and shoots in tropical and subtropical monsoon forests, broad-leaved forests, coniferous broad-leaved forests, savannas and plateaus. It is generally active in the morning, evening and night, and if the environment is safe, it will also forage during the day, rarely going to places far from water.
Sambar deer have the habit of migrating vertically along the slopes, migrating to high-altitude forest areas in summer and autumn, and migrating to medium- and low-altitude slopes in winter. In Nanxiong Xiaoliukeng-Qingzhangshan Provincial Nature Reserve, due to the high latitude winds, cold and little food in winter, sambar deer often move near the middle and low altitude fruit farms or on the sunny slopes with food.
Infrared camera monitoring of sambar deer in Nanxiong Xiaoliukeng-Qingzhang Mountain Reserve
In order to find out the distribution range, survival status and interference factors of sambar deer in the reserve and provide a scientific basis for the protection of sambar deer, from 2016 to 2020, a total of 37 sites were randomly deployed to install infrared cameras for monitoring in the area with more sambar deer activity in the reserve (altitude range of 300-900 meters), of which 29 were deployed in Qingzhang Mountain and 8 were laid out in small stream pits. Among the 37 sites, the number of sambar deer occurrence sites was 21, accounting for 57%, and monitoring showed that there were sambar deer activity footprints in both the buffer zone and the core area of the reserve.
According to the analysis of sambar deer photos and videos taken from 2011 to 2020, there are at least three populations of sambar deer in the reserve, one population each in the Tianchi area of Qingzhang Mountain, one population in the peak preschool area of the main field, and one population in The Small Flow Pit. The population of sambar deer in the reserve is estimated at 20-25. These data indicate that the number of sambar deer in the reserve is growing and the survival condition is good.
【Source: Huizhou Forestry Bureau】
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