[Animals] Muntjac - Wiki

[Aronus]

Muntjacs (/mʌntdʒæk/ MUNT-jak),[1] also known as the barking deer[2] or rib-faced deer,[2] are small deer of the genus Muntiacus native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. Muntjacs are thought to have begun appearing 15–35 million years ago, with remains found in Miocene deposits in France, Germany[3] and Poland.[4] Most are listed as least-concern species or Data Deficient by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), although others such as the black muntjac, Bornean yellow muntjac, and giant muntjac are vulnerable, near threatened, and critically endangered, respectively.[5][6]

The present name is a borrowing of the Latinized form of the Dutch muntjak, which was borrowed from the Sundanese mencek (/məntʃək/). The Latin form first appeared as Cervus muntjac in Zimmerman in 1780.[7][8] An erroneous alternative name of Mastreani deer has its origins in a mischievous Wikipedia entry from 2011 and is incorrect.[9]

The present-day species are native to Asia and can be found in India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Vietnam, the Indonesian islands, Taiwan and Southern China. Their habitat includes areas of dense vegetation, rainforests, monsoon forests and they like to be close to a water source.[10] They are also found in the lower Himalayas (Terai regions of Nepal and Bhutan).

An invasive po[CENSORED]tion of Reeves's muntjac exists in the United Kingdom and in some areas of Japan.[11] In the United Kingdom, wild muntjac descended from escapees from the Woburn Abbey estate around 1925.[12] Muntjac have expanded rapidly, and are present in most English counties and also in Wales, although they are less common in the north-west. The British Deer Society in 2007 found that muntjac deer had noticeably expanded their range in the UK since 2000.[13] Specimens appeared in Northern Ireland in 2009, and in the Republic of Ireland in 2010.

Inhabiting tropical regions, the deer have no seasonal rut, and mating can take place at any time of year; this behaviour is retained by po[CENSORED]tions introduced to temperate countries.

 

Muntjac - Wikipedia