antonsrkn
Vulnerable Rusa
Sambar (Rusa unicolor) - Danum Valley, Malaysia
You would never guess it from these photos and the behavior of this individual deer but Sambar are usually quite skittish and most individuals I saw out away from human habitation were very wary of me and I just saw them making a quick getaway. These deer are listed as vulnerable by the IUCN redlist, here is a quote about the current state of the Sambar from the IUCN's assessment:
"Almost everywhere outside Taiwan, the Sambar is in rapid decline leading to a widespread distribution of very low numbers and many local-level extinctions, with occasional healthy populations reflecting special circumstances." - IUCN
Danum Valley is one of those special circumstances, it is protected from poaching and logging and thus it has remained an wildlife rich area, many species including the Sambar have healthy populations there. Healthy Sambar populations are necessary to support various predators throughout their range, for example tigers, in Borneo there are no tigers but clouded leopards can and do prey on Sambar.
There are 4 species in the genus Rusa and all are found in Southeast Asia and all are threatened, with 3 species being listed as vulnerable and 1 as endangered.
Vulnerable Rusa
Sambar (Rusa unicolor) - Danum Valley, Malaysia
You would never guess it from these photos and the behavior of this individual deer but Sambar are usually quite skittish and most individuals I saw out away from human habitation were very wary of me and I just saw them making a quick getaway. These deer are listed as vulnerable by the IUCN redlist, here is a quote about the current state of the Sambar from the IUCN's assessment:
"Almost everywhere outside Taiwan, the Sambar is in rapid decline leading to a widespread distribution of very low numbers and many local-level extinctions, with occasional healthy populations reflecting special circumstances." - IUCN
Danum Valley is one of those special circumstances, it is protected from poaching and logging and thus it has remained an wildlife rich area, many species including the Sambar have healthy populations there. Healthy Sambar populations are necessary to support various predators throughout their range, for example tigers, in Borneo there are no tigers but clouded leopards can and do prey on Sambar.
There are 4 species in the genus Rusa and all are found in Southeast Asia and all are threatened, with 3 species being listed as vulnerable and 1 as endangered.