The Chital (Axis axis), or spotted deer, is a medium-sized deer native to the Indian subcontinent, distinguished by its reddish-brown coat, permanent white spots, and three-pronged antlers. Males, or stags, are larger than females, typically weighing 70–90 kg, and are known for their loud, coarse barking calls.
Key Facts
Appearance: They have a distinctive white throat, belly, and inner legs, with a dark dorsal stripe.Antlers: Males have three-pronged antlers that can reach nearly 1 m (3 ft 3 in) in length.
Habitat & Diet: They prefer grassy woodlands and, while primarily grazers, will consume fruits and shrubs during the dry season.
Social Behavior: They are highly gregarious and often found in large, mixed-sex herds (10-50+ individuals).
Symbiosis: Chital maintain a mutualistic relationship with gray langurs, which drop fruit for them to eat and provide warning calls against predators.
Breeding: Chital can breed throughout the year, with a gestation period of 225-235 days.
Lifespan: Their life expectancy is around 15–20 years.Distribution: Native to India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal, they have been introduced to Texas, Argentina, and Australia.Chital are not considered threatened, with a conservation status of "Least Concern" (LC).
The chital (Axis axis; /tʃiːtəl/), also called spotted deer and axis deer, is a deer species native to the Indian subcontinent. It was first described by Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben in 1777. A moderate-sized deer, male chital reach 90 cm (35 in) and females 70 cm (28 in) at the shoulder. While males weigh 70–90 kg (150–200 lb), females weigh around 40–60 kg (88–132 lb).
It is sexually dimorphic; males are larger than females, and antlers are present only on males. The upper parts are golden to rufous, completely covered in white spots. The abdomen, rump, throat, insides of legs, ears, and tail are all white. The antlers, three-pronged, are nearly 1 m (3 ft 3 in) long.
The chital ranges over 8–30°N in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The western limit of its range is eastern Rajasthan and Gujarat; its northern limit is the Terai and northern West Bengal, Sikkim to western Assam and forested valleys in Bhutan below an elevation of 1,100 m (3,600 ft). It also occurs in the Sundarbans and some eco parks around the Bay of Bengal, but is locally extinct in central and north-eastern Bangladesh. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Sri Lanka are the southern limits of its distribution. It inhabits deciduous and semi-evergreen forests and open grasslands throughout the Indian peninsula.
The chital was the first species of deer introduced into Australia in the early 1800s. While some of the stock originated from Sri Lanka, the Indian race likely is also represented.
