The Awesome Tufted Deer Project!By P N

Habitat and Location

• The tufted deer lives in China, extreme northeast Burma, and extreme northern India.

• They live in the range of 27 to 35 degrees north in mountains and higher elevations.

Zoo Habitat

Five improvements that can be made are…• The habitat should be warmer because they have short fur.• There should be a little more hiding space because this animal is a shy

animal.• There should be more of a mountain-like environment, including

elevated areas because tufted deer live in the mountains.• There should be a bigger source for vegetation because they are

herbivores and the Zoo habitat did not have extensive plants.• The area should be bigger because it is a very fast runner.

A few good things about the zoo habitat are…• The habitat has a very good source of water because it has a pond.• There is a very good mix of animals in the zoo habitat because they

all live in the same area.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Tufteddeer-2.jpg/428px-Tufteddeer-2.jpg

Physical Features

• Tufted deer are 3-6 feet tall.• They have dark brown fur.• The males have 2 fang like teeth for defense.• The tuft or fur covers about 85-100 percent of the antlers.• The young have spots on them that go away once able to

reproduce.

Physical Adaptations

• They flop their white tails when running which alert other tufted deer of danger.• Their spots help camouflage them from other animals.• The male deer has large “fangs” that scare off other animals.• Their flat teeth are good for eating vegetables.• They have short hair which helps them live in a fairly warm climate -- similar to

that of the southern Appalachian Mountains.• They have strong legs which are good for running.• Their small build makes them able to hide easily.• They are most active at dusk and dawn, and therefore because of their dark color

are not well seen by other animals.• Their antlers don’t serve a big purpose except to scare other animals. Due to lack

of information, we do not know of many natural predators.• Because of their small size (37 – 100 pounds average) they are light and quick on

their feet.

http://homepage.mac.com/wildlifeweb/mammal/tufted_deer/tufted_deer01.jpg

Behavioral Features

• The tufted deer is territorial.• It barks to communicate.• They are shy animals.• The young stay with their mom until 5-7months of age.• They usually travel solo, and rarely do any more than 2 deer travel together.• They always live near water.• They aggressively defend their territory from others.• Tufted deer scare off predators by barking during mating season or when

scared.• They do not wander far from home and so they know their territory well.

Reproduction

• The tufted deer’s gestation is about 180 days.• They are sexually mature when they are 1-3 years old.• Mating season is September to December.• The litter is 1-2 babies a year.

Other Tufted Deer Facts

• The tufted deer looks very much like the muntjac.• They use their fang-like tooth features for a weapon.• The only major threat to the species is overhunting.• It is an herbivore and eats only vegetation like grasses

and any other vegetation in their environment.• They are NOT endangered, but they are decreasing in

population.

Taxonomy

• Kingdom-Anamalia• Phylum-Chordata• Class-Mammalia• Order-Artiodactyla• Family-cervidae• Subfamily-muntiacinae• Genus-elaphodus• Species-E.cephalophus

Please enjoy this awesome tufted deer video