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| Thai Wildlife > Rare or Extinct |
Brown Antlered Deer
Species: Cervus eldii (McClelland, 1842)
Synonyms: Panolia acuticauda (Gray, 1843); Rucervus thamin (Thomas, 1918)
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Cervidae
Common names: Brown Antlered Deer; Eld's Deer
In Thailand, La-ong is the name for the male while La-mang is the name for the female deer however most call them La-mang.
It is a large deer that is only slightly smaller than the wild deer which is the largest deer in Thailand.
The fine hairline runs across the brownish golden fur. The La-mang has large wide ears and on average the male is larger. The hair along the neck is rough and long and body fur appears dark. The young have white spots that eventually disappear. The antlers of the male La-mang grow perpendicular to the forehead and attached to the main antlers are branches that have curved ends, giving the appearance of hooks. The branches spread out.
The Thai la-mang has two sub-species that are only native to the area.
The la-mang measures 1.5-1.7 meters in length with a tail of 0.22-025 meters, The height at the shoulders measure 1.2-1.3 meters with ears 0.15-0.17 meters. The body weight is approximately 95-150 kilograms.
Habitat ranges from the northeastern part of India, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Hai-lum Island of China. This extends to the south of Thailand and the Malay peninsula.
The Burmese strain are found in Burma and the west of Thailand. The Thai strain can be found in Indochina, Hai-lum, and the northeast of Thailand.
Thailand was once the center of the la-mang population and they used to be found in abundance in the forests of all regions except the south. Today they have been hunted into extinction in many areas while only surviving in the Panom Dongrak mountains along the Cambodian border.
The Burmese strain or Tamin can be found in the Tanaosri mountains along the Thai-Burmese border. It lives in herds in the grasslands and open forests with water sources in all regions of the country except the south.
They are not found in dense forests and eat fruits but not the leaves. They mate in February-April. The la-mang in captivity don't have any specific mating season though most of the time the period falls between November-June. The pregnancy is about 240-244 days and the mother gives birth to one foal at a time.
The main reason it is close to extinction is because of hunting and the destruction of habitat while antlers are also sought by collectors. Today there are many breeding stations and private people who breed la-mang in captivity, however most of this is the Burmese strain with only a few being the Thai strain.
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