Leaf Muntjac

About this species

Size

About 50cm at the shoulder

Weight

Under about 11kg

Diet

Fruit and leaves

Habitat

Dense mountain forest at about 450–600m, the transition between tropical and temperate forest

Range

Myanmar and eastern Arunachal Pradesh, India

The leaf muntjac, or Putao muntjac, is one of the smallest deer, about 50 cm at the shoulder and weighing under 11 kg. It is light brown, and unusually for a deer its young are not spotted. Both sexes have pronounced canine tusks, and males have unbranched antlers about 2.5 cm high. Local hunters call it the leaf deer because a single large leaf could wrap its body. It was documented in 1997 by Alan Rabinowitz in Myanmar (Wikipedia, general species account).

In India it was first reported from the Lohit district in eastern Arunachal Pradesh, then in Namdapha Tiger Reserve in 2002 and in several new areas of Arunachal Pradesh in 2008 and 2009. It lives at about 450–600 m in dense mountain forest. It is usually solitary, and traces of fruit and leaves found in dissected animals suggest that it disperses seeds. Little else is known of its behaviour (Wikipedia, general species account).

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