EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Muntjac

Indian Muntjac or Barking Deer (Muntiacus muntjak), Family Cervidae
Corbett National Park, India

Explanation:  This deer barks!  But, then again, so do others.  This is an Indian muntjac, also called barking deer, so named because it issues loud barking alarm calls.  

Its odd stance is because its hind legs are shorter than its forelegs, common to this genus.  

Barking deer are found throughout India and are locally common, although habitat loss and poaching are local threats.  

Barking deer are shy and occur mostly solitary, unlike other, more social deer of India such as chital or spotted deer, and dancing deer.  They are small and often hide in the underbrush of forests.  

  

A female barking deer on the alert.  Both sexes have a V-shaped
bony ridge on the forehead, evident here.

  

Male barking deer have very short, single-axis antlers.
Perhaps the dark legs serve to break up the body outline,
to become less obvious to predators.

There be barking deer here!  My pen is for scale, showing
how tiny the hoofs are.