Thorold's deer

Thorold's deer
	;
Conservation status
	; Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia;
Phylum:	Chordata;
Class:	Mammalia;
Order:	Artiodactyla;
Family:	Cervidae;
Subfamily:	Cervinae;
Genus:	Cervus;
Species:	C. albirostris;
Binomial name
	Cervus albirostris; (Przewalski, 1883)[2]

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Thorold's deer has the scientific name Cervus albirostris. It is also known as the white-lipped deer (Baichunlu, 白唇鹿), for the white patches around its muzzle. It is distantly related to the Central Asian Red Deer and the Wapiti.

Thorold's deer live in the high and cold grasslands of the Tibetan Plateau in Eastern Tibet and in Qinghai Province in China. This deer fills an ecological niche similar to the Shou (Cervus affinis affinis) (a subspecies of the Central Asian Red Deer). The species was first reported by Nikolai Przhevalsky in 1883, and the first specimens were procured by W.G. Thorold, after whom the species is named. About 100 Thorold's deer was kept in zoos, and 50,000 - 100,000 in wild.

[edit] Description

It is one of the largest deer species, measuring up to 2 meters (6 feet) long and weighing up to 230 kg (500 lb). Male deer have 5 pronged antlers (5 points on each antler) that may measure 1.3 meters (4 feet) and resemble the 6 prong antler plan of the American Elk or Wapiti but without the bez (second tine). This deer, like the Wapiti, is predominantly a grazer and also has large ears, a shoulder hump, and a large rump patch with a short tail. Calves are not spotted at birth.