Chital Axis axis, also known as spotted deer and axis deer, is native to the Indian subcontinent. A full grown male, or stag, reaches nearly 90 cm at the shoulder, weighing 30--75 kg; the females are lighter and weigh 25ââ¬â45 kg, reaching a height of 70 cm. Only the stag grows antlers, which are shed every year. The antlers are three pronged and extend to a meter in length. The upper parts of its body are golden, completely covered in white spots. The abdomen, rump, throat, insides of legs, ears, and tail are all white. Chital are active throughout the day. In the summer, they rest under shade, falling asleep a few hours before sunrise inside the forest which is cooler than the glades. A gregarious animal, herds can have 5 to 40 members. When alarmed by the presence of a predator chital flee in groups, instead of scattering, barking persistently. Grazers as well as browsers, the chital mainly feed on fresh grass when available and during shortage, browse on a variety of plants. Water holes are visited nearly twice daily, with great caution. The chital are found in large numbers in a variety of habitat like dense deciduous forests, semi evergreen forests and open grassland. nThe chital stag and doe were photographed on March 25, 2019, at about 10 AM, while on a jeep ride through the Gir forest. Equipment used was a Canon DSLR EOS 550D, with a 75 to 300 Canon zoom; focal length 150 mm, f/5, shutter speed of 1/2000 s.n
|
