VARIETIES OF ASIATIC DEER 
S O little material is available (apart from the specimens in 
Petrograd Museum) and so much has still to be ascertained with 
regard to the range and distribution of the large deer of Central 
Asia that several of the following names can only be looked on 
as provisional. 
The Tian Shan wapiti ( Cervus canadensis songaricus). 
This was first described by Dr Severtzoff under the name of C. maral 
var. songarica, and subsequently by Dr Blanford, on the evidence of 
detached antlers obtained by the second Yarkand Mission, as C. 
eustephanus. They are distributed throughout the Tian Shan range and 
its offshoots. The Ala Tau is their northern limit, though a few 
stragglers may be found in the Barlik Tagh. To the south the Narin 
River is approximately their boundary, while to the west they extend 
to the Issi Kul Lake and the Alexandrovsk range. Eastward they are 
found at almost the extreme extension of the Tian Shan range, namely 
the Karlik Tagh. 
An adult male reaches a height of about 57 inches at the shoulder, while 
their general colour is brownish grey tinged with yellow, the head and 
neck being darker. 
The Tian Shan race differs from the American wapiti by the narrower 
rump patch, which is more orange in colour and does not include the 
middle line of the tail. This is short and coloured like the back. The 
general colour, too, is greyer and there is more black on the borders of 
the rump patch, the thighs and flanks. 
The horns are characterized by their thickness, length, dark colour and 
massive quality. “ The beam inclines slightly inwards from the trez tine 
towards the root of the fourth tine, which is large and bent strongly 
inwards. At the root of the fourth tine the beam is bent markedly in- 
wards and backwards. All tines on front surface are long, stout, parallel 
and nearly at right angles to its axis. The upper portion when fully deve- 
loped carries three tines practically in the same plane as the tip of the 
fourth tine and nearly in that of the tip of the third tine.” 
The best measurements run from about 50 inches on outside curve to 
60 inches. A typical head carries twelve points, though fourteen or sixteen 
are not uncommon, and more have been known. 
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