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Order : CETARTIODACTYLA
Family : Cervidae
Species : Axis porcinus
Head-Body Length : Males up to 150 cm
Tail Length : Males up to 21 cm
Weight : Males up to 110 kg
Axis porcinus, or
Hog Deer, is a medium-size cervid: it is much smaller than the
Sambar Rusa unicolor and considerably larger
than most species of muntjac, for example the Red
Muntjac Muntiacus muntjak.
This endangered species once ranged widely in South Asia and Southeast Asia,
however its range is now greatly fragmented, and the species is likely to be
extinct in many former territories.
There is a likelihood that Axis porcinus represents at least two
separate species, however, as of 2019, the taxonomy appears unresolved.
Some researchers use the genus Hyelaphus, rather than Axis,
for this species. Local names for the species include 'Thai Hog Deer' and 'Indochina Hog
Deer'.
In the field, the Hog Deer can be identified by its relatively short legs in
comparison to body size, and its rich brown winter fur, which becomes
greyish in the summer (Lekagul & McNeely, 1977). Fur colour along the dorsal
line is darker, and the belly is pale. Juveniles of some populations have
rows of small, pale spots - these may still be visible in some adults (for
example, the animal in the foreground in Figure 2). Males have slender
antlers, which have a short projection at the base, and which fork into two
tines at the tip.
In Thailand, where the species has been locally reintroduced, herds of
'several dozen individuals' once inhabited alluvial or riparian plains,
especially where there were tall grasses (Lekagul & McNeely, 1977).
IUCN summarizes their diet as including 'young grasses, particularly
Imperata cylindrica, Saccharum spp ... it also takes herbs,
flowers, fruits ... young leaves and shoots'.
Hunting pressure and conversion of grassland habitat for agricultural uses
has contributed to the decline of this species, which probably now only
occurs in two countries of Southeast Asia, namely Thailand (reintroduced)
and Cambodia. It is probably extinct in Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam.
Outside the region it still occurs in Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan and
Bangladesh, but is probably extinct in China.
Fig 1 : Female example from a sanctuary run by the Lao Conservation
Trust for Wildlife (LCTW) in Thoulakhom District, Vientiane Province,
Laos.
Fig 2 : The adult deer in the foreground still has a row of faint, pale
spots on either side of its dorsum.
All photos thanks to Noel Thomas. Thanks to Will Duckworth for assistance.
References : M3, M5
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