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Tufted Deer

Elaphodus cephalophus

A small, dark deer of Chinese mountain forests named for the tuft of hair on its forehead, which often hides the male's tiny antlers.

🦌 Deer
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About the Tufted Deer

Tufted deer live in high mountain forests of southern and central China and northeastern Myanmar, always near water. They weigh 37 to 110 pounds and have coarse dark gray or brown coats with white tips on their ears. A tuft of hair on the forehead can hide the male's short, spiky antlers. They eat leaves, twigs, fruit and grass.[1]

Quick facts

Scientific name
Elaphodus cephalophus[1]
Size
3.6 to 5.3 feet long; 1.6 to 2.3 feet tall at the shoulder.[1]
Weight
37 to 110 pounds.[1]
Lifespan
Up to about 15 years in human care.[1]
Diet
Herbivore. Leaves, twigs, fruit and grass.[1]
Habitat
High-altitude forests near water.[1]
Where it lives
Southern and central China and northeastern Myanmar.[1]
Group life
Usually solitary, sometimes in pairs.[1]
Babies
One or two fawns in early summer.[1]
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN Red List, assessed 2014).[2]

Fun facts

  • Tufted deer bark when alarmed.[1]
  • The forehead tuft can hide a male's tiny antlers.[1]
  • They flash their white tails when running, like white-tailed deer.[1]

Vocabulary

tuft
A bunch of hair or feathers growing close together.
antler
A bony branch that grows on a deer's head and falls off each year.
fawn
A baby deer.
territory
An area an animal lives in and defends.
near threatened
A conservation label meaning a species may soon be at risk of dying out if things don't improve.

See it in person

Sources

  1. [1] Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan. “Tufted deer (Elaphodus cephalophus).” https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Elaphodus_cephalophus/ (accessed 2026-10-02)
  2. [2] IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. “Elaphodus cephalophus (Tufted Deer).” https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/7112/22159620 (accessed 2026-10-02)

Facts last checked 2026-10-02.

More Deer

A bull elk with large branching antlers standing in a forest.ElkCervus canadensisA large North American deer whose males grow huge antlers every year and fill autumn valleys with high-pitched bugling.Père David's DeerElaphurus davidianusA water-loving Chinese deer that disappeared from the wild long ago and survived only in captive herds.A male white-tailed deer with antlers standing in dry grass.White-Tailed DeerOdocoileus virginianusA common deer of the Americas that flashes its white tail as a warning and bounds away at up to 30 miles per hour.