Indian Hog Deer

Hyelaphus porcinus

The Indian hog deer is a small deer whose habitat ranges from Pakistan, through northern India, to mainland southeast Asia, which inhabits much of the Indo-Gangetic Plains of Pakistan, northern India, Nepal, Bangladesh, southwestern Yunnan Province in China, all the way to western Thailand. Introduced populations also exist in Australia the United States and Sri Lanka.

It gets its name from the hog-like manner in which it runs through the forests with its head hung low so that it can duck under obstacles instead of leaping over them like most other deer. Cover is taken as soon as it is feasible. During flight, the tail is held erect, showing the white underside.
Indian Hog Deer, male Geotagged,Hyelaphus porcinus,India,Indian Hog Deer,Kaziranga,Spring

Behavior

This species of deer are gregarious only when conditions are favorable and do not form a "unit" at these times, fleeing in different directions rather than in a herd. When alarmed, hog deer make a whistling vocalization or a warning bark. Home ranges vary widely in size, but average about 0.70 km². Males are aggressive, and may become territorial at low population densities, marking the boundaries with glandular secretions. During the rut, males gather in open meadows, pawing the ground during antagonistic encounters. Harems are not created, with males courting and defending a single female at any given time. Unlike many other deer species, hog deer do not have a rutting call. Population densities may be as low as 0.1 animals per square kilometer in riverine valleys, rising to over 19 individuals per square kilometer in grassy flood plains.
Indian Hog Deer, female Geotagged,Hyelaphus porcinus,India,Indian Hog Deer,Spring

Predators

Predators include tigers, leopards, dholes and sometimes the Burmese python.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

Status: Endangered
EX EW CR EN VU NT LC
Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionChordata
ClassMammalia
OrderArtiodactyla
FamilyCervidae
GenusHyelaphus
SpeciesH. porcinus
Photographed in
India