A stocky deer that moves with its head low under forest cover.
Its hind legs are longer than its front legs, giving it a higher rump. Males are generally larger and darker than females, and their antlers have three points.
From 2018 to 2020, researchers searched for hog deer in the species’ historical range in southwest China. They interviewed 50 local residents, surveyed 14 transects across four counties and set up 150 camera stations in two nature reserves. The cameras operated for a combined 28,674 days, but the team found no tracks and recorded no hog deer.
The study describes floodplain grasslands along rivers as habitat preferred by hog deer. The authors considered habitat loss and overhunting the most likely causes of the species’ disappearance from China. Twenty-eight of the 50 interviewees said they had not seen hog deer since the early 1980s.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
For China, the authors recommend establishing a protected area in the Nanting River watershed, restoring habitat and reintroducing hog deer from countries where they still occur.