It belongs to the Cervidae family of Artiodactyla order. Its scientific name is Cervus porcinus (Latin), or Hog Deer (English).
It is a scrubby and stout animal with 100 to 115 centimeters in body length, 60 to 70 centimeters in shoulder height, about 17 centimeters in tail length, and 35 to 50 kilograms in body weight. Its four limbs are comparatively short. Its whole body is in hazel, belly in gray, summer hair on both sides of dorsal ridge with ashen spots, and body lateral with irregular spots. Its hip is blunt round and comparatively low, like pig hips, hence it gets the name Hog Deer". The male has a three-fork horn.
Hog Deerinhabits in swamps along both banks of rivers. It hides in daytime and goes out at night, good at traversing tussock grass as well as skipping over barriers. It mostly lives and moves about alone, but temporarily forms subgroups in estrus and mating period. It is fond of eating tender grass, reed leaves and other aquatic plants, once in a while stealing soybeans, mealie seedlings, melons and other crops. Its estrus and mating are between September to October, with a gestation period of 7 to 8 months, one baby per fetus, occasionally two babies. It has a lifespan of 12 to 15 years and 20 years as the longest.
Hog Deer is mainly distributed in the south of Yunnan Province. Its wild population is on the verge of extinction, so it is in urgent need of protection.
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