Pampas deer
| Pampas deer | ||||||||||||
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Pampas deer ( Ozotoceros bezoarticus ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Ozotoceros | ||||||||||||
| Ameghino , 1891 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Ozotoceros bezoarticus | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The pampas deer ( Ozotoceros bezoarticus ), also called camp deer , is a deer from South America .
features
With a head body length of 110 to 140 centimeters, a shoulder height of 70 to 75 centimeters and a weight of 25 to 40 kilograms, the pampas deer are downright petite compared to European deer. The fur is reddish brown on top and whitish on the underside. Each of the male's antlers has three ends.
distribution
The distribution area includes Brazil , Argentina , Uruguay and Paraguay ; it overlaps with that of the swamp deer , but the pampa deer prefers savannahs with dry bottom. Agricultural fields have also become the habitat of the pampas deer.
Way of life
Pampas deer live in small groups of an average of five animals. When the food supply is cheap, these groups sometimes unite to form loose associations of up to fifty animals, but which separate again at the end of the day. The pampas deer are usually diurnal , but in areas populated by humans some animals have become crepuscular and nocturnal . During the rutting season, male pampas deer fight for the females. After a gestation period of seven months, female pampas give birth to a single fawn that is spotted at birth.
Threat and protection
The pampa deer was once one of the most common animals of the grass steppes of Argentina and Uruguay, the pampas . For the Indian peoples in southern South America, its role is said to have been comparable to that of the North American bison for the local Indians. With the colonization of Argentina by the Europeans, the pampas deer lost their habitat. Pampas deer were shot down en masse by the settlers to make room for grazing land for their flocks of sheep. Nevertheless, the IUCN classifies the pampas deer as low endangered ( near threatened ). The subspecies Ozotoceros bezoarticus celer , once widespread in the Argentine pampas, is considered threatened, the other subspecies Ozotoceros bezoarticus leucogaster (Paraguay) and Ozotoceros bezoarticus bezoarticus (Brazil, Uruguay) are somewhat more common.
Others
The pampa deer is used as a heraldic animal by the Argentine province of San Luis .
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 2 volumes. 6th edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD et al. 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
Web links
- Ozotoceros bezoarticus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2006. Posted by: E. Tavares et al, 2002. Accessed on 02/01/2007..