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The 'Central Asian Red Deer' is a postulated species of Red Deer, which lives primarily in Asia east of the Caspian Sea and south of Mongolia.
Biologists have until recently stated that Red Deer and Wapiti (or Elk) are the same species forming a continuous distribution throughout temperate Eurasia and North America, based on fertile hybrids that have been produced under captive conditions. Animal behavior is generally different in captivity than in the wild, and the assumption that the same results would happen in the wild as in captivity is not necessarily the best test methodology to determine speciation. Recent DNA studies conducted on hundreds samples from Red Deer and Elk subspecies determined that there are three distinct species of Red Deer and divides them into an Western (European), Central (Turkestan/Tarim Basin), and Eastern (North Asia, East Asia, North America) species grouping.
The western species is the European Red Deer and includes the deer that are found in Europe, Asia Minor, and North Africa. The central species is the Central Asian Red Deer that inhabits temperate riparian vegetation corridors surrounded by deserts and temperate mountainous environments. The eastern species is the Wapiti (or Elk) whose range is from Northern and Eastern Asia into North America. Altogether, the study concluded that not more than 9 distinct subspecies of Red Deer exist and that the eastern, central, and western groups should be considered to be three separate species.^[1]
All subspecies are either threatened or show a population decline.

Contents

Description

Distribution and habitat

Subspecies

Predators

See also

References cited

Description

There are subtle differences in appearance between the subspecies of Central Asian Red Deer primarily in size and coat. The antler structure of most subspecies features a 5 prong plan (5 tines on each antler) with occasional "cups" formed at the fourth and fifth tines as in European Red Deer but like the Elk or Wapiti they have large bez (second tines), and have a bend after the third tine.
Bactrian deer and Yarkand deer have large rump patches (reminiscent of Wapitis). In contrast to the Yarkand Deer, which has a light sandy coat, the Bactrian Deer has a darker, grayish-brown coat pattern with darker legs, head, and neck (most noticeable in males) that resembles the coat of the American Elk or Wapitis, which is why this subspecies is sometimes called the ''Bactrian Wapiti''. These deer do not have neck manes, but do have stronger and thicker neck muscles than female deer that may give the appearance of a neck mane. Female deer are slightly smaller than male deer, but the difference in size is not as pronounced as it is in the European Red Deer subspecies. Kashmir stags have small rump patches and short neck manes
All subspecies have short tails similar to the short tails of Wapitis. Central Asian Red deer calves are generally born spotted much like European Red Deer calves, and most individuals lose their spots by adulthood. However, adult Bactrian Deer and Kashmir Stag may possess a few spots on the backs of their summer coats. This phenomenon has also been observed in summer coats of the distantly related Manchurian Wapiti (''Cervus canadensis xanthopygus'') and many subspecies of European Red Deer (''Cervus elaphus'').
Rutting calls of Central Asian Red Deer are primitive but tend to resemble the bugles of Wapitis more so than the roaring of the European Red Deer. For example, the Kashmir stag's mating call starts out with a roar like a European Red Deer but ends more like a bugle of an American Elk.^[2]

Distribution and habitat

'Lowland Deer'
The Bactrian deer (''Cervus affinis bactrianus'') and Yarkand deer (''Cervus affinis yarkandensis'') both live in lowland riparian corridors of mixed deciduous (willow/poplar) vegetation surrounded by deserts. The Bactrian Deer (also known as ''Bukhara Deer'' or ''Bactrian Wapiti'') lives in Russian Turkestan (West Turkestan) and adjacent areas in Northern Afghanistan to the west of the Tianshan Mountains. The Yarkand Deer (also known as ''Tarim Deer'' or ''Lop Nor Stag'') lives in the ''Tarim Basin Deciduous Forests and Steppe Ecoregion'' in the Tarim Basin of China's Xinjiang Province (East Turkestan).
The Bactrian and Yarkand Deer which are dependent on the lowland riparian corridors for food and shelter do not migrate but may disperse into adjacent desert areas at night or at times of cooler temperatures.
'Highland Deer'
The Kashmir Stag (also known as ''Hangul'') lives in the mixed deciduous and coniferous forests that grow on the mountain slopes and valleys of Kashmir.
The Kashmir Stag tends to migrate between higher and lower elevations following the melting snows to higher altitudes in the spring and return to lower elevations for the winter months.

Subspecies

Subspecies	Classification	Status	Historic Range
'Bactrian Deer '	''Cervus elaphus bactrianus''	Vulnerable (D1)	Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
'Kashmir Stag '	''Cervus elaphus hanglu''	Endangered (D)	Indian, Pakistan
'Yarkand Deer '	''Cervus elaphus yarkandensis''	Endangered (A1a)	China

Please note that at the time of writing and tabulating the data above, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources classified the these five subspecies as "Cervus elaphus". According to the proposed three Red Deer species classification, these five subspecies actually belong to the Central Asian Red Deer (''Cervus affinis'') species. The Shou (''affinis'') and Tibetan Red Deer (''wallichi'') are actually the same subspecies, and MacNeill's Deer (''macneilli'') and Kansu Red Deer (''kansuensis'') are actually the same subspecies.

Predators

Aside from man, the Wolf is probably the most dangerous of predators that most Central Asian Red Deer encounter. Occasionally, the Brown bear and Asiatic black bear will prey on these deer as well. Other possible predators are dholes and snow leopards. Eurasian Lynx and wild boars sometimes prey on the calves. In the past they were also hunted by the now extinct Caspian tiger.

See also

★ Red Deer - European Red Deer

★ East European red deer - a subspecies of European Red Deer

★ Elk - East Asian/North American Elk/Wapiti

★ Sika Deer

★ Thorold's Deer

References cited

1. Mitochondrial DNA phylogeography of red deer (Cervus elaphus)
2. Deer of the World: Their Evolution, Behavior, and Ecology, , Valerius, Geist, Stackpole Books, , ISBN 0-8117-0496-3