Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Suborder: Ruminantia
Family: Cervidae
Subfamily: Cervinae
Genus: Muntiacus
Species: Reevesi
The Chinese Muntjac or Reeve’s Muntjac is a small deer that is native to China and Taiwan. They can also now be found in parts of Europe because a large number of them escaped from the Whipsnade Zoo and from Woburn Abbey in 1925. After they escaped, they began to live and grow in the forests of England, Belgium, Scotland and Ireland. They get their name from John Reeves, a British man who lived in China in the 19th century. He was a naturalist, which is a person who studies natural history and science. He collected the little deer and brought both information and living specimen back to England. The Muntjac are native to China, Taiwan and parts of India but in recent years they have been spreading all over Europe. They were brought to Europe as pets and to live in zoos, but when they escaped, they adapted to the wooded environments. This is not unusual. Humans often introduce new species to areas. This can be dangerous because these new animals may change the environment and hurt other native animals.
• There are 11 species of Muntjacs.
• They are also called barking deer because of the loud barking sound that they make when they are scared.
• They are the oldest known species of deer.
• Their fossils date back 15 to 35 million years ago.
• They live in woodlands.
• They are herbivores and eat leaves, fruit, bark, fungi and herbs.
• They have a large strong tongue to strip leaves off plants.
• They usually live around 10 years.
• They are crepuscular. That means they are most active at dawn and dusk.
• They are solitary creatures.
• The male deer have long upper canines (2 inches long) that act like tusks and small antlers (4 inches long) that can be used defensively.
• The female deer are usually smaller than the male.
• They are a small species of deer only 16 inches tall at the shoulders.
• They weigh around 30 pounds.
• They have dark brown fur coats and dark stripes on their faces.
• Some describe their faces as looking very dog-like.
