Yellow-striped Chevrotain

About this species

Size

43-51cm head and body

Habitat

Wet forest, secondary forest, forested grassland, urban scrub and rice paddies

Range

Wet Zone: Sinharaja and the Colombo lowlands north to Katagamuwa; highlands to Kandy district

The yellow-striped chevrotain was described as a separate species by Groves and Meijaard, who split the Sri Lankan chevrotains and gave the wet zone one of its own. It is a warmer, more ochre brown than its relatives, with yellowed rather than white stripes and spot-rows along the flanks, two bold stripes over the haunch, and a sharp white strip along the middle of an otherwise pale ochre underside. Head and body are 43 to 51 cm and the tail only 1 to 3 cm (Groves and Meijaard 2005).

It lives in the Wet Zone, from Sinharaja Forest and the lowlands around Colombo north to Katagamuwa on the edge of the Dry Zone, and up into the highlands as far as Kandy district. It is not confined to intact forest: it also occurs in urban scrub forest and rice paddies, and is more abundant in secondary forest than in primary forest (Groves and Meijaard 2005). Nationally Vulnerable (Sri Lanka National Red List 2012).

Description: Wildlife of Sri Lanka guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com)