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Australian Wildlife

  Rusa (Cervus timorensis)





Rusa | Cervus timorensis photo
Rusa Deer - photograph from Wikipedia

Image by Ark - Some rights reserved.    (view image details)







RUSA FACTS

Description
Rusa are a medium sized deer. The coarse coat is dark grey-brown in winter and reddish brown after summer moult. The underside is cream or pale grey. Some males have a white throat patch. The tail is fairly long and pointed with dark tip. Males have three-tined antlers that are shed in summer and regrow each winter. Stags develop a mane during winter. New calves have a rich tan coat with no spots.

Size
Length: 1.5m - 1.8m. Tail length: 18cm - 25cm. Weight 50g - 120kg

Habitat
grassy plains bordered by dense brush or woodlands for shelter

Food
grass, herbaceous plants

Breeding
Females give birth to a single calf after a gestation period of about 8-9 months.

Range
Rusa deer are native to South-East Asia. In Australia they are found in the Royal National Park outside Sydney and on the islands of Torres Strait.

distribution map showing range of Cervus timorensis in Australia

Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.



Classification
Class:Mammalia
Order:Artiodactyla
Family:Cervidae
Genus:Cervus
Species:timorensis
Common Name:Rusa

Relatives in same Genus
  Red Deer (C. elaphus)
  Hog Deer (C. porcinus)
  Sambar (C. unicolor)