Hog Deer - Europe | Online Record Book Preview

Axis porcinus

Ciervo porcino (Sp), Schweinhirsch (G), Cerf cochon (F).

DESCRIPTION (male) Shoulder height 24-29 inches (60-74 cm). Weight 80-100 pounds (36-45 kg). Females are smaller. A small deer with a low, heavy build and comparatively short legs and face. This appearance, along with its characteristic of rushing through grass with its head down like a pig, is the basis for its common name. General color is brown or yellowish-brown with a dark dorsal stripe. Buttocks, underside of tail and inside of ears are white. Fawns are spotted, and faint white spots can sometimes be seen on younger adults, especially in early summer. The tail is medium-long and well-haired, and sometimes is displayed as a white "flag" when the animal runs off. Antlers typically have three points to a side. The short brow tine and main beam emerge from the burr as a fork, and the main beam divides again to form a terminal fork that is more or less parallel with the axis of the skull. The inner top is shorter than the beam tip and forms an acute angle with it. Non-typical antlers are sometimes seen, the additional tines usually taking the form of extra inner tops.

DISTRIBUTION Native to southern Asia. First introductions in Europe were to an island off Denmark in 1880 and in France about 1890, but failed to survive in either place. Found on some private properties in England and elsewhere, where surplus males may be hunted by arrangement.