Spotted deer graze on dry summer grasses

Spotted deer grazing on dry summer grasses of Bandipur National Park in Karnataka, India.

The chital or cheetal also known as chital deer, spotted deer or axis deer, is a deer which commonly inhabits wooded regions of India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and in small numbers in Pakistan. The chital goes by various names in India, among which include: chital horin in Bengali, thith muwa in Sinhalese, jinke in Kannada, pulli maan in Tamil and Malayalam, jinka in Telugu, phutuki horin in Assamese, haran/harin in Marathi, and hiran in Hindi/Urdu (the latter two derived from harini, the Sanskrit cognate for 'deer'). It is the most common deer species in Indian forests. The name chital comes from the Bengali word chitral/chitra , which means "spotted". The chital is monotypic within the genus Axis, but this genus has also included three species that now are placed in Hyelaphus based on genetic evidence.

The chital's coat is pinkish fawn, marked with white spots, and its underparts are also white. Its antlers, which it sheds annually, are usually three-pronged and curve in a lyre shape and may extend to 75 cm (2.5 ft). Compared to the hog deer, its close relative, the chital has a more cursorial build. It also has a more advanced morphology with antler pedicles being proportionally short and its auditory bullae being smaller. It also has large nares. The male chital averages about 90 cm (35 in) tall at the shoulder, with a total length of 170 cm (67 in), including a 20 cm (7.9 in). Males, at a typical weight of 30 to 75 kg (66 to 165 lb), are somewhat larger than females, at 25 to 45 kg (55 to 99 lb). Exceptionally large males can weigh up to 98 to 110 kg (216 to 243 lb). Their lifespans are around 8--14 years.

Bandipur National Park, established in 1974 as a tiger reserve under Project Tiger, is a national park located in the south Indian state of Karnataka. It was once a private hunting reserve for the Maharaja of the Kingdom of Mysore. Bandipur is known for its wildlife and has many types of biomes, but dry deciduous forest is dominant.

The park spans an area of 874 square kilometers (337 sq mi), protecting several species of India's endangered wildlife. Together with the adjoining Nagarhole National Park (643 km2 (248 sq mi)), Mudumalai National Park (320 km2 (120 sq mi)) and Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (344 km2 (133 sq mi)), it is part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve totaling 2,183 km2 (843 sq mi) making it the largest protected area in southern India.

Bandipur is located in Gundlupet taluq of Chamarajanagar district. It is about 80 kilometers (50 mi) from the city of Mysore on the route to a major tourist destination of Ooty. As a result, Bandipur sees a lot of tourist traffic and there are a lot of wildlife fatalities caused by speeding vehicles that are reported each year. There is a ban on traffic from the hours of dusk to dawn to help bring down deaths of wildlife.

Source : Wikipedia

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