Elaphodus cephalophus

Geographic Range

Tufted deer live in northeast Burma (Myanmar) and southern and central China. Their range extends from 24 to 35 degrees N latitude and from 98 to 122 degrees E longitude.

• Biogeographic Regions
• oriental oriental
  • native native

Habitat

Tufted deer live in forested regions at high altitudes (between about 300 and 4600 meters above sea level), and in rain forests in high-altitude valleys. Their habitat is always near water.

• Habitat Regions
• temperate temperate
• terrestrial terrestrial

• Terrestrial Biomes
• forest forest
• rainforest rainforest

Physical Description

Tufted deer are similar in appearance to muntjac, although they are slightly larger. They weigh from 17 to 50 kg (37-110 lbs), and are 110 to 160 cm long (3.6 to 5.3 ft), with a shoulder height of 50 to 70 cm (1.6-2.3 ft). The tail is 7 to 16 cm (2.8-6.4 inches) long. The coat is coarse and dark gray or brown, with a dark gray head and neck. The underside is white, including the underside of the tail, and the lips and the tips of their ears are also white. Tufted deer gets their name from the tuft of hair on the forehead, which can sometimes hide the small antlers of the male. These antlers are simple and spiked, growing from short bony pedicles. Tufted deer have no upper incisors, but their upper canines are long and tusklike, similar to those of the muntjac. Male tufted deer are slightly larger than females. When a tufted deer fawn is born, its coloration is similar to that of an adult tufted deer, but with two parallel rows of spots on the back, on either side of the spine. These spots fade and disappear when the young deer reaches maturity.

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic endothermic
• homoiothermic
• bilateral symmetry bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• ornamentation ornamentation

Reproduction

During the mating season, tufted deer males bark to attract mates.

• Mating System
• polygynous polygynous

Tufted deer mate in late fall and early winter, the young are born in the early summer after a gestation of 180 days. However, a female tufted deer at the Twycross Zoo in the United Kingdom gave birth after an average gestation period of 240 days over the course of 5 years. Tufted deer usually give birth to one or two fawns per year. Until the age of six months, a young deer is dependent on its mother. Tufted deer become sexually mature between eighteen months and two years of age.

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous iteroparous
• seasonal breeding seasonal breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual sexual
• viviparous viviparous

Young tufted deer are nursed and cared for by their mother until independence. They are capable of standing soon after birth.

• Parental Investment
• precocial precocial
• female parental care female parental care

Lifespan/Longevity

In captivity, tufted deer live to as long as 15 years, their longevity in the wild is not well documented.

Behavior

Like the white-tailed deer, the tufted deer has a tail with a white underside, which it points upward while feeding. When the deer runs, it lifts its tail, exposing the underside in a similar manner to that of the white-tailed deer. Tufted deer sometimes live in pairs, but are usually solitary. They bark when alarmed, which serves as a warning to others of their species in the area. They are territorial and do not tend to move far from their home territory. The bucks are known to fight over territory and mates, and their chief weapons are their elongated canines; their antlers are also used, but are not as dangerous. Tufted deer are crepuscular; they are shy during the day and more active during the evening and night.

• Key Behaviors
• terricolous
• crepuscular crepuscular
• motile motile
• sedentary sedentary
• solitary solitary
• territorial territorial

Communication and Perception

• Perception Channels
• tactile tactile
• chemical chemical

Food Habits

Tufted deer eat leaves, twigs, fruits, grasses and other types of vegetation. They are both browsers and grazers. These deer tear off vegetation to eat by pressing the lower incisors against a callous pad that takes the place of upper incisors.

• Primary Diet
• herbivore herbivore
  • folivore folivore
  • frugivore frugivore
  • lignivore

• Plant Foods
• leaves
• wood, bark, or stems
• fruit

Predation

Tufted deer bark when alarmed.

Ecosystem Roles

The tufted deer is a terrestrial herbivorous grazer and browser and a source of meat to carnivores such as the leopard and dhole.

• Ecosystem Impact
• disperses seeds

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

Tufted deer may be hunted for meat and fur throughout their range. They may also help to alert humans to the presence of predators through their barks.

• Positive Impacts
• food food

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

There are no adverse affects of tufted deer, they are too rare to pose a threat to crops.

Conservation Status

As of 1993, there were estimated to be 500,000 tufted deer living in China. They are not listed as an endangered species, although deforestation for agriculture and logging threaten their habitat. There are several tufted deer living in zoos, and they have been successfully bred in captivity. Annual kill by humans is estimated to be about 100,000.

Other Comments

The tufted deer is the only species in the genus Elaphodus , and this animal has not been extensively studied to date. Little is known about its longevity in the wild, and some sources list its diet as omnivorous, although the majority list the tufted deer as an herbivore. There are a disputed number of subspecies of Elaphodus cephalophus , most commonly there are three listed: E.c. cephalophus , which is found in northeast Burma and southwest China, E.c. michianus from eastern China, and E.c. ichangensis from central China. It is possible that E.c. ichangensis is a hybrid of the other two subspecies.

Additional Links

Encyclopedia of Life

Contributors

Barbara Lundrigan (author), Michigan State University, Rebecca Oas (author), Michigan State University.

References

Grzimek, B., 1990. Grzimek's Encyclopedia of Mammals, Volume 5 . New York: McGraw-Hill.

Nowak, Ronald M., 1999. Walker's Mammals of the World, Sixth Edition, Volume II . Baltimore & London: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Sheng, H., H. Lu. 1982. Distribution, habits and resource status of the tufted deer (*Elaphodus cephalophus*). Acta Zoologica (Sinica) , 28: 307-311.

Waller, M. 2001. "Animal Fact Sheets: Western Tufted Deer" (On-line). Accessed March 26, 2002 at http://www.zoo.org/educate/fact_sheets/deer/tufted.htm .

Whitehead, G. 1972. Deer of the World . New York: Viking Press.