Wildlifeof India
Leaf Muntjac
Deer & Chevrotains
Photo: User:מנחם.אל · CC BY 4.0 (May be cropped or resized)
Muntiacus putaoensis
Basic stats
Diet
Fruit and leaves
Habitat
Dense mountain forest at about 450–600m, the transition between tropical and temperate forest
Range
Myanmar and eastern Arunachal Pradesh, India
Size
About 50cm at the shoulder
Weight
Under about 11kg
The leaf muntjac, or Putao muntjac, is one of the smallest deer, about 50 cm at the shoulder and weighing under 11 kg. It is light brown, and unusually for a deer its young are not spotted. Both sexes have pronounced canine tusks, and males have unbranched antlers about 2.5 cm high. Local hunters call it the leaf deer because a single large leaf could wrap its body. It was documented in 1997 by Alan Rabinowitz in Myanmar (Wikipedia, general species account).
In India it was first reported from the Lohit district in eastern Arunachal Pradesh, then in Namdapha Tiger Reserve in 2002 and in several new areas of Arunachal Pradesh in 2008 and 2009. It lives at about 450–600 m in dense mountain forest. It is usually solitary, and traces of fruit and leaves found in dissected animals suggest that it disperses seeds. Little else is known of its behaviour (Wikipedia, general species account).
Quick answers
- What does the Leaf Muntjac eat?
- Fruit and leaves
- What habitat does the Leaf Muntjac live in?
- Dense mountain forest at about 450–600m, the transition between tropical and temperate forest
- Where is the Leaf Muntjac found?
- Myanmar and eastern Arunachal Pradesh, India
- How big is the Leaf Muntjac?
- About 50cm at the shoulder
- How much does the Leaf Muntjac weigh?
- Under about 11kg