Chital

About this species

Size

Shoulder height: males 90–100cm, females 65–75cm; head and body about 1.7m

Weight

Males 70–90kg; females 40–60kg

Range

India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka; western limit eastern Rajasthan and Gujarat

The chital, or spotted deer, is a moderate-sized deer in which only males carry antlers. The upper parts are golden to rufous, completely covered in white spots, with a black stripe along the spine; the abdomen, rump, throat, inner legs, ears and tail are white. The tail is about 20 cm long with a dark stripe, and a running chital carries it raised, showing the white underside. The three-pronged antlers are nearly 1 m long. Males weigh 70–90 kg and females 40–60 kg (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is native to the Indian subcontinent and ranges over 8–30°N. The western limit of its range is eastern Rajasthan and Gujarat, and its northern limit is the Terai and northern West Bengal, Sikkim and western Assam, and forested Bhutan valleys below 1,100 m. It also lives in the Sundarbans and in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and is extinct locally in central and north-eastern Bangladesh. As days cool, it feeds before sunrise and again from late afternoon until around midnight. Groups are loose and disband often, except the mother-and-fawn herd (Wikipedia, general species account).

Description: Wildlife of India guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)