SPOTTED DEER

                          STATUS

IUCN                        : LRIC 

ZSI/CAMP                : Common

Schedule                 :  III 

Population             : Over 43000 

Activity                    : Crepuscular 

Social Group          : Heards of 10 to 30

👉Local name  :  Chittal or Cheetal, Chitra, Pashu

👉Physical measurements & life cycle : 👇

Weight                   :  55 - 90 kg

Height                   :  65 - 90 cm (horns : 85 cm)

Gestation              :  210 - 225 days

Litter size             :   1

Life span              :  15 - 20 years

Breeding              :  Any time of a year. 

👉Description   :   Chital is the most beautiful animal in the deer family. It looks extraordinarily beautiful due to white dots on its golden coat. Male gets large branched antlers. Newly grown antlers are velvety. 

👉FoodHerbivorous. It grazes grass, browses leaves and also consume tender shoots, bark etc. 

👉Distribution   :   In Gujarat, Chital was found in the forests of Valsad, Dangs, Bharuch, Surat, Panchmahals, Sabarkantha and Banaskantha districts as also in Barda, Gir and Girnar. Currently, it occurs in Gir, Girnar, Mitiyala, Hippavadli and Vansda National Park. A small group was also recently seen in the forests of Vyara Division in South Gujarat. It is recently introduced in Barda in Saurashtra region of the state. 

👉Habitat   :  Chital is an inhabitant of the dry deciduous forests and semi-moist forests. 

👉Behaviour   :  Crepuscular. This animal prefers to graze in the mornings and in the evenings. It usually rests by day. It spends the nights in a group in an o pen area keeping vigil in all directions. Produces an alarm call like a shrill "Poohoo". During rutting period the stag has a rutting call that resembles "Onhoo-Onhoo"

👉Signs of presence   :   Hoof marks, alarm calls, rutting call, shed/fallen antlers. 

Population   :   Year   1990     1995     2001     2005 

                            Nos. 27,600  32,061  46,211  43,200 (in Gir) 

                         

                                  (A small population of 60-70 animals in/around Vansda N.P. and small population in Mitiyala & Hippavadli.)

👉Sambar, Cheetal and Barking deer are the three species of deer found in India. Dunbar Brander wrote in "Wild Animals of Central India" that in grace and beauty, the chital rivals, if it does not surpass, any deer in the world." It is believed that the "Kanchan Mruga" that tempted Lord Rama's wife Sita as per the epic Ramayana was a Chital/Spotted deer. Old bucks of chital are darker and more brownish in colour. Chital are less nocturnal than sambar. Chital are seen in herds of 10 to 30 deer, which may contain 2-3 stags. They do not hesitate to come in human proximity and therefore they enter his cultivation fields. Chitals freely associate with other forest animals, particularly monkeys.