The Awesome
Tufted Deer
Project!
By P N

Habitat and Location
• The tufted deer lives in China, extreme northeast
Burma, and extreme northern India.
• They live in the range of 27 to 35 degrees north in
mountains and higher elevations.

Zoo Habitat
Five improvements that can be made are…
• The habitat should be warmer because they have short fur.
• There should be a little more hiding space because this animal is a
shy animal.
• There should be more of a mountain-like environment, including
elevated areas because tufted deer live in the mountains.
• There should be a bigger source for vegetation because they are
herbivores and the Zoo habitat did not have extensive plants.
• The area should be bigger because it is a very fast runner.
A few good things about the zoo habitat are…
• The habitat has a very good source of water because it has a pond.
• There is a very good mix of animals in the zoo habitat because they
all live in the same area.

Physical Features
• Tufted deer are 3-6 feet tall.
• They have dark brown fur.
• The males have 2 fang like teeth for defense.
• The tuft or fur covers about 85-100 percent of the antlers.
• The young have spots on them that go away once able to
reproduce.

Physical Adaptations
• They flop their white tails when running which alert other tufted deer of danger.
• Their spots help camouflage them from other animals.
• The male deer has large “fangs” that scare off other animals.
• Their flat teeth are good for eating vegetables.
• They have short hair which helps them live in a fairly warm climate -- similar to
that of the southern Appalachian Mountains.
• They have strong legs which are good for running.
• Their small build makes them able to hide easily.
• They are most active at dusk and dawn, and therefore because of their dark color
are not well seen by other animals.
• Their antlers don’t serve a big purpose except to scare other animals. Due to lack
of information, we do not know of many natural predators.
• Because of their small size (37 – 100 pounds average) they are light and quick on
their feet.

Behavioral Features
• The tufted deer is territorial.
• It barks to communicate.
• They are shy animals.
• The young stay with their mom until 5-7months of age.
• They usually travel solo, and rarely do any more than 2 deer travel
together.
• They always live near water.
• They aggressively defend their territory from others.
• Tufted deer scare off predators by barking during mating season or when
scared.
• They do not wander far from home and so they know their territory well.

Reproduction
• The tufted deer’s gestation is about 180 days.
• They are sexually mature when they are 1-3 years old.
• Mating season is September to December.
• The litter is 1-2 babies a year.

Other Tufted Deer Facts
• The tufted deer looks very much like the muntjac.
• They use their fang-like tooth features for a weapon.
• The only major threat to the species is overhunting.
• It is an herbivore and eats only vegetation like grasses
and any other vegetation in their environment.
• They are NOT endangered, but they are decreasing in
population.

Taxonomy
• Kingdom-Anamalia
• Phylum-Chordata
• Class-Mammalia
• Order-Artiodactyla
• Family-cervidae
• Subfamily-muntiacinae
• Genus-elaphodus
• Species-E.cephalophus

Please enjoy this awesome tufted deer video