ORDER ARTIODACTYLA I EVEN-TOED UNGULATES 439 



going from Moulmein [Burma] right through to Bangkok covering 

 untouched territory on the Meklong River." 



Brow -an tiered Deer; Burmese Thamin; Eld's Deer. 

 Sangnai (Manipuri) 



RUCERVUS ELDII ELDii (M'Clelland) 



Cervus Eldii M'Clelland, Calcutta Jour. Nat. Hist, vol. 2, p. 417, 1842. ("The 

 valley of Munipore" [Manipur], Assam.) 



SYNONYMS: Cervus (Rusa) frontalis M'Clelland (1843); Rucervus thamin 

 Thomas (1918); R. t. brucei Thomas (1918). 



FIGS.: Eld, 1842, pi. 12; M'Clelland, Calcutta Jour. Nat. Hist, vol. 3, pis. 

 13, 14, 1843; Blyth, 1868, p. 841, figs. 13-17; Lydekker, 1898b, p. 197, 

 fig. 54, p. 199, fig. 55; Lydekker, 1900, pi. 6, fig. 8, p. 235, fig. 49; Lydekker, 

 1915, vol. 4, p. 101, fig. 20; Stockley, 1928, pi. facing p. 160; Peacock, 1933, 

 pi. 21; Jour. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc, vol. 37, no. 1, suppl, pi. 25, 1934; 

 Ward, 1935, p. 18, fig.; Pocock, 1937, p. 694, fig. 



This Thamin, ranging from Manipur through Burma, has suffered 

 so severely from overshooting and from the extension of cultivation 

 that there is much apprehension as to its chances for survival. 



"Mature stags are dark brown or almost black in colour, with 

 a long, thick ruff of coarse hair around the neck. The hinds are 

 fawn-coloured." (Peacock, 1933, p. 137.) The antlers "are rounded 

 and rough, with a long curved brow-tine, forming a continuation 

 of the curve of the beam, which is set at right angles to the pedicle ; 

 the beam unbranched for some distance, much curved, and finally 

 forked, with the outer prong more subdivided than the inner. Height 

 at shoulder, about 4 feet 3 inches." The record length of antlers 

 on the outside curve, not including the brow-tine, is 42 inches. 

 (Ward, 1935, p. 16.) The female is much smaller than the male. 



Assam. According to Eld (1842, p. 415), this deer is found [in 

 Assam] only in the Valley of Manipur, and not in Cachar or the 

 Kubo Valley or the Naga Hills. "After the annual grass burning. 

 I have frequently seen herds of two or three hundred." 



The following information on its present status in Assam comes 

 from the Political Agent in Manipur and J. C. Higgins (in Hit., 

 March, 1937) . It lives only in the swamps in the low parts of the 

 Manipur Valley. It has decreased in numbers in recent years, partly 

 owing to extension of cultivation, but more to poaching. There are 

 rules for its protection, which are often disregarded, because there 

 is no special staff to enforce them. 



The Bombay Natural History Society writes (in litt., December, 

 1936) that Wild Dogs and poachers are factors in its decrease. "In 

 time of high flood the animals are driven out of their haunts to 

 isolated places of high ground and slaughtered regardless of sex or 

 age." The meat, hide, and horns are utilized. 



