Local name: Kakar ( Urdu )

Description and Biology:

Size:Shoulder Height: 1 foot 8 inches to 2 feet

Weight: 45 lbs

Description: Barking deer are the smallest in size of all deer. The stags have very small antlers, not more than 4 inches long, with short brow lines and straight, unforked beams which grow backwards. Their coat is bright chestnut and their gait are unlike that of the hog deer, with heads down and stiff-legged.

Social Behavior: On hearing their name — Barking Deer — one may be prompted to ask whether this deer can bark like a dog. The name `barking deer’ was given to them for their loud, sharp calls resemble the barks of dogs. Besides this loud and sharp “bark”, this deer also produecs an indistinct rattling sound when running. Barking deer live mostly in pairs. Come the mating season, the adult males fight their rivals. In so doing, they use their sharp-pointed antlers and razor-sharp canine teeth, badly wounding each other. do.

Diet: Browser and grazer . (all above information from Shangri La home page).

Habitat and Distribution:

Browsers and grazers, barking deer are found in both sal and riverine forests, but in Pakistan this little deer is found in a very limited mountanious area. This deer is mainly found in the Margalla Hills. It is also found in very few numbers in Azad Kashmir. The main threat to this deer’s survival is loss of habitat, which is so limited in Pakistan. Uncontrolled livestock grazing may lead this beautiful deer to the verge of extinction. It’s only future survival is in the Margalla Hills National Park, where there still may be 30-40 barking deer (T.J Roberts, “Mammals of Pakistan)