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Chital Deer (Axis axis)

Chital are the most attractive of all the deer species and are certainly one of the most beautiful of all wild animals. Their colouring is most striking, consisting of a reddish to chestnut brown coat with white spots, a striking white upper throat patch and a black dorsal stripe which also contains white spots in a fairly uniform pattern. The belly, inside of the legs and underneath part of the tail is also white. The tail is noticeably longer than in most deer species. The muzzle is a much darker brown than the rest of the face and the ears are pointed.

A mature stag may weigh in the vicinity of 80kg and hinds considerably less. Chital are closely allied to the hog deer but they are much taller at the shoulder, standing about 86cm or a little more in the case of a big stag.

The antlers of a Chital stag are slender and usually of three points as in Sambar, Rusa and hog deer. Measurement around the main beam rarely exceeds 10cm and the two antlers usually form a ‘lyre’ shape with terminal forks. In Australia, the longest chital antlers may exceed 82cm.

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