Elaphodus cephalophus

The body length is about 920 mm, the tail length is about 120 mm, the shoulder height is 490 mm, and the weight is about 30 kg. The body is medium in size, similar to that of a red deer, with an exposed nose, small eyes, no frontal glands, and particularly prominent infraorbital glands. The ears are rounder and wider. There is a horseshoe-shaped tuft of long black hair on the forehead, so it is called the hairy deer. The male deer has antlers, which are very short and only about 1cm long. The crown of the antlers is not bifurcated, and the tip is slightly bent downward, hidden in a long tuft of black hair on the forehead; the female deer has no antlers. The tail is short.
The coat of the tufted deer is rough, usually dark brown or bluish gray, with winter hair almost black and summer hair auburn. The body hair is thicker and stiffer. The hair on both heads and neck is dark brown with white rings near the hair tips. There are gray lines above the eyes and the hair crown on the forehe

Tufted deer are mainly found in Zhejiang, Fujian, Anhui, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Yunnan and other places in China; they are also distributed in northern Myanmar.
Tufted deer live in evergreen broad-leaved forests, coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forests, shrubs, logging sites and river valley shrubs in high mountains or hilly areas. They often move in mountains with an altitude of 1000-4000 meters. In Luding, Sichuan, they are seen in the range of 1300-2700 meters above sea level.

The Latin name of the tufted deer is Elaphodus cephalophus, which has three subspecies and is a small deer.

Tufted deer live in hilly areas in mountainous areas, lush bamboo forests, mixed bamboo and broadleaf forests, and thatched slopes. They don't like humidity. After spring, they mostly stay in higher mountains to avoid the summer heat, and in winter they go down to the lower mountains to avoid the cold in the sun. Herbivorous, similar to the yellow muntjac, both like to eat plants of the Rosaceae, Liliaceae and Ericaceae, but the yellow muntjac likes to eat seeds or fruits of these plants, while the tufted deer eats branches and leaves of these plants. In addition, the tufted deer sometimes enter farmland to steal corn seedlings, soybean leaves, potatoes and peanut leaves.

The hearing and smell of the tufted deer are relatively developed, especially the suborbital gland, which can be regarded as the most developed among deer. It plays a significant role in inter-species communication and finding mates. The tufted deer has a gentle temperament. During the day, it hides in the undergrowth or bamboo forest under the forest, and comes out to forage at dawn and dusk, usually in pairs. But in the autumn mating season, the situation is very different when males compete for females. They hit each other with canine teeth and front hooves, often causing bloodstains, before the winner is determined. It is alert and agile. Once there is any movement, it will run away like a puff of smoke, and even hunting dogs cannot catch up with it. However, it has a fatal weakness: when running away, it will lift its tail high, and the white hair on the inside seems to be a "white flag" raised, which is a clear target. It is often hunted for this reason.

Tufted deer have a distinct breeding season. They mate from April to May every year, with a gestation period of 6 months. Each litter has 1 to 2 cubs, which is a rare species among deer. Generally, they reach sexual maturity at 1-2 years old and can live for 7 years in the zoo. According to Sheng Helin and others, the pregnancy rate of female animals is 76.9%. One baby is born per year, and the cubs reach sexual maturity in the second year (about one and a half years old) and participate in reproduction. The maximum lifespan of male and female deer is 10 and 12 years old respectively; the sex ratio of newborn fawns is 1:1, and the sex ratio is 3:1 when they are 4 to 6 years old. The earliest birth age of female deer is 3 to 4 years old. The natural growth rate and average generation time of the population are 1.221, 0.032 and 7.014 respectively. The breeding value of female deer is the highest when they are 3-4 years old.

Tufted deer are timid by nature and difficult to raise and reproduce artificially. Chengdu Zoo has set up a special breeding ground and planted a large number of plants such as Ligustrum lucidum and Syringa pubescens that Tufted deer like to eat. Four Tufted deer are raised in such a secluded and undisturbed environment, providing diversified feed and sufficient energy. At the same time, Tufted deer can freely eat plants in the field, so that Tufted deer that have not reproduced for many years have begun to reproduce. In 2003, a female Tufted deer gave birth to a baby, and in 2004, all three female Tufted deer gave birth and survived. In 2022, within the ecological protection red line of Qingtian County, Lishui City, Zhejiang Province, staff used infrared cameras to capture the figure of Tufted deer, a national second-level key protected wild animal.

The tufted deer is listed in the 2015 IUCN Red List of Endangered Species Ver3.1 - Vulnerable (VU), and is also included in the "National List of Terrestrial Wildlife with Important Economic and Scientific Research Value".

Listed in Appendix III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Listed in the China Biodiversity Red List - Vertebrate Volume, with an assessment level of Vulnerable (VU)

Listed in the second level of the "China National Key Protected Wildlife List".

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