Page 46 - ELITE PLUS MAGAZINE VOL6
P. 46
ELITE ADVENTURE A herd of swamp deer, stags with velvet antlers, is alert at the sound of a possible predator approaching. A swamp deer stag having shedA hog deer stag with antlers.globally and is declining steadily due to habitat loss, cattle grazing, and breeding with domestic buffalo. Its habitats are grasslands and marshes in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand, and Cambodia. The largest number, about 1,200, is found in Kaziranga. It is considered one of the most dangerous animals to encounter. When threatened, it snorts, stomps its feet, and shake its head as it prepares to charge.The Asiatic wild water buffalo measure 1.56-1.80 meter in height at shoulder, and weigh 800-1,200 kg. Both males and females carry horns which spread up to 2 meters. They are grazers, feeding mainly on grasses, as well as on herbs, fruits, bark, and shrubs. Their predators are tigers, which prey on their young and on weaker adults.The last of the Kaziranga Five we saw was the swamp deer, which is distinguishable from other Indian deer by the famous antlers of the male. It is known in Hindi as barasingha because of its antlers with up to twelve-tined, and is the state animal ofthe velvet off the antlers.
