Hog Deer

The hog deer is a compact, muscular deer adapted to moving beneath dense vegetation. Its short, delicate legs support a stocky body, and the longer hindlegs raise the rump above the shoulders. Adults have coarse, dark olive-brown coats with white-tipped guard hairs, while summer coats may reveal faint spotting. The rounded ears are unusually large and edged with white hairs, and the tail is conspicuously bushy. Males are slightly larger than females and usually carry small, three-tined antlers. (Animal Diversity Web)

Hog deer are native to the Indian subcontinent and parts of Southeast Asia, including Myanmar and Thailand. They prefer dense forest but seasonally enter clearings, ordinary grasslands, and wet grasslands as food availability changes. Primarily solitary, sedentary, territorial, and nocturnal, they may gather in small feeding groups where forage is abundant. They mainly graze but also browse leaves and occasionally eat fruit. When threatened, they may enter water or run with the head held low rather than bounding like many other deer. (Animal Diversity Web)