Spectacular Deer

Deer are often seen playing pranks in groups and enjoy every moment of life. Their compact body, long powerful legs, deciduous tined antlers, bulging eyes and short head, make them one of the most beautiful creatures on this earth. They have excellent swimming skills, good night vision and the ability to sense danger

Deer is a ruminant mammal which belongs to the Cervidae family, classified into 34 species which are widely distributed all over world. According to Chinese, deer is a symbol for longevity which means long and prosperous life.

As deer prefers different types of vegetation for food and climate, its all species are not found at one place. Some people attribute deer beauty to its being vegetarian. It eats grass, fruits, shrubs, soft twigs and fresh leaves. Due to its liking for the vegetarian food deer plays an important role in nature balance as it keeps control on the growth of grass and other trees by eating them.
Deer antlers are strong and it has sharp smelling, sensing and sighting ability. The antlers are made of solid bones and shed after regular intervals and then regrow. Deer have large funnel ears which make them hear voice effectively.
India is home to various species of deer like chital, hog deer, barasingha, Indian sambar and India muntjac. All these species could be seen in Corbett National Park (Uttarakhand), Ranthambhore National Park (Rajasthan), Kanha National Park (Madhya Pradesh), Dudhwa (Assam) and Bandhavgarh National Park (Assam). Let us know about these varieties.


Chital or Spotted Deer

Chital lives in thickly forested area, scrub jungles and in places where large herbs grow. Their colour lies between rusty red to dark brown. One can easily recognize chital by spotting white spots on its body which are its characteristic feature. It has a short erect tail. The average height of its stag is 85-90 cm. Chital is considered a socializing deer specie and is found in groups most of the time. An extremely nervous animal, chital lives for 20-30 years. Chital feed on every type of vegetation but their favorite food is grass.

Hog Deer

Hogs is often compared with pig as both have common physique - short legs and muscular body with brown colour. They have medium tail and antlers with just three tines. The average height of a hog is between 110-115 cm. Hogs do not have rutting call. Hogs have lowest density in India and are found in forest, grasslands and clearing. Hog generally emerge during darkness. Hog deer feeds on leaves and grass and they have very subtle sagacity of smell, sight and sound.
Barasingha Deer
Barasingha is named so in India because of its twelve tined antlers. It is one of the most beautiful deer with bulging eyes, high legs, tined antlers, broad ears and compact body with a height of 130 cm. Their antlers appear shiner and lighter. Barasingha loves to be in water. It has a sharp sense of smelling danger and barks loudly seeing danger. It lives for almost 20 years.

Indian Sambar Deer

This deer specie lives in marshy land and wooded area. A unique thing about sambar is that they have grandest antlers amongst all deer species. Standing to a height of 135-150 cm, sambar have orange spots on their body . They feed on grass, leaves and various wild fruits, and often move in large groups. They are of shy nature and love swimming. That is why they can be seen in water most of the time. Their life ranges between 16 and 20 years.

Indian Muntjac

One of the oldest known deer species, Muntjac are known as "barking deer" because they bark loudly when sensing danger. Muntjac are hostile towards each other and they fight ferociously with antlers. Physically they are small in size, with white patches on body and red-brown furs. However, their colour varies from deep brown to yellow or grayish brown with creamy or whitish markings on body. Their diet includes shrubs, grass and shoots and they live for 19 years.

Valuable Deer

A living deer is great sight to watch but even after its death, it serves to beautify human beings. In many areas people use deer for food, clothing and transportation. Things made from its skin (like shoes, gloves, clothes etc) and antlers (like buttons, knife handles and weapons) are very costly and much is demand. Deer organs are also used for making medicines and perfumes.

Extinction Threat

Unfortunately the population of this beautiful creature is declining fast as they are hunted and killed by the greedy. A survey has found that deer are facing various threats like habitat loss which is mainly due to clearing of plants and shrubberies on which they feed and take shelter. Fencing of large area also shrinks their food accessibility. Besides, heaving plastics, construction debris, chemicals, broken glass and sharp objects in deer parks can injure deer. To save deer species from extinction, deer parks have been set up. Under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, those hunting deer would be punished and fined.
Under this law, film actor Salman Khan has been sentenced for shooting two blackbull deer (chinkara) in Jodhpur in September 1998. Salman has appealed against the sentence and the case is still.

The Bishnoi community of Rajasthan is taking special care of deer animals which they , consider as the manifestation of divinity. The Bishnois even on seeing the herds of deer eating standing crop never chase deer away. If a deer get wounded by stray dog then the Bishnoi ladies nurse the fawn. Deer are often seen sauntering in the fields of Bishnois or taking a nap in the placid afternoon sun.