Visayan spotted deer

Prince Alfred Hirsch

The Prince Alfred deer ( Cervus rusa alfredi or alfredi ) is a mammal of the deer family ( Cervidae ). The endemic species in the Philippines is named after Prince Alfred, son of Queen Victoria and one of the rarest species of deer in the world. In the Visayas, the name Usa and Lagsaw be used for the Prince Alfred Hirsch.

Features

The fine, very dense coat of this deer is colored dark brown. Characteristic are the bright spots, which extend along the back and flanks and forwards become smaller. The underside of the body and tail are whitish - gray. The antlers, which bear only the males as in almost all species of deer is relatively short and thick. What is striking is its compared to other deer narrower skull. With a body length of about 125 centimeters and a shoulder height of 65 to 80 centimeters, it is one of the smallest representatives of the Real deer.

Distribution and habitat

Prince Alfred deer live in rain forests belonging to the Philippines Visayas Islands. On many islands of their original distribution area, including Cebu, Bohol and Masbate they are extinct. The still collected in the 1980s populations on Leyte and Samar are likely to be extinct, so the style today only in a few locations on the island of Negros, to the volcanoes Mandalagan, Cuernos de Negros, Silay, and in the western wooded Central Panay mountains occurs on the island of Panay.

Way of life

Little is known about the life of Prince Alfred deer. They are nocturnal and live mostly solitary. Keep preferably in the dense undergrowth, feeding on grasses and leaves. Most births fall in the months of May and June, the gestation period is around eight months and the litter size usually a single cub.

Threat

The hunting and large-scale destruction of their habitat have brought the kind to the brink of extinction. As mentioned above, it is today only in isolated areas on two islands, and having lost more than 95 % of its original area of ​​distribution. It is estimated that only a few hundred members of this type, the IUCN lists them as endangered ( endangered ). Through breeding programs and effective monitoring of protected areas is an attempt to prevent a further decline in population numbers. The national parks and nature parks on Negros where the Prince Alfred Hirsch lives, who Balinsasayao Twin Lakes Natural Park, the Northern Negros Natural Park and the Mount Kanlaon Natural Park were in the Integrated Biosphere Zones Act to protect and preserve the biosphere ( NIPAS ) recorded.

System

Only since the 1980s, it is clear that it is the Prince Alfred Hirsch to its own kind acts, he was formerly regarded as a subspecies of Sambars or the Philippines deer.