View source for Tibetan red deer

{{Short description|Subspecies of deer}}
{{Subspeciesbox
| name = Tibetan red deer
| image = Tibetan red deer.jpg
| genus = Cervus
| species = canadensis
| species_link = Elk
| subspecies = wallichi
| authority = ([[Georges Cuvier|G. Cuvier]], 1823)
| synonyms = * ''Cervus canadensis affinis''
| range_map = Copia (2) di Copia di Range Map Cervus affinis.png
}}

The '''Tibetan red deer''' ('''''Cervus canadensis wallichi''''') also known as '''''shou''''', is a subspecies of [[elk]]/wapiti native to the southern [[Tibet]]an highlands and [[Bhutan]]. Once believed to be near-extinct, its population has increased to over 8,300, the majority of which live in a 120,000-hectare nature reserve established in 1993 in [[Riwoqê County]], [[Chamdo|Qamdo Prefecture]], [[Tibet Autonomous Region]], China.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.xinhuanet.com//english/2015-12/31/c_134968326.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190101193952/http://www.xinhuanet.com//english/2015-12/31/c_134968326.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 1, 2019|title=Tibet sees growth in wildlife population|publisher=Xinhua News Agency|date=2015-12-31}}</ref>
Some have been kept at the beginning of the 20th century in London, and in a small zoo south of [[Lhasa]].

==Description==
The Tibetan red deer is relatively massive built with short legs and a large, square muzzle. The winter fur is light sandy-brown, except the grayish face. The summer coat is slate-gray. The large, white rump patch, which includes the short tail, has no dark rim as it is seen in the [[Sichuan deer]], for example. Those from the eastern part of the range have a dark dorsal line and represent probably the ''C. c. affinis'' type, which is now usually included in the ''shou''.<ref name="Geist">Valerius Geist: ''Deer of the World: Their Evolution, Behaviour, and Ecology'', Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg PA 1998, {{ISBN|0-8117-0496-3}}</ref>

==Relationships and range==
Tibetan red deer, along with Sichuan deer and [[Kansu red deer]], forms the southern group of wapiti.<ref name="Ludt">{{cite journal|last = Ludt | first = Christian J. |author2=Wolf Schroeder |author3=Oswald Rottmann |author4=Ralph Kuehn |
title = Mitochondrial DNA phylogeography of red deer (Cervus elaphus)|journal= Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | year = 2004 | volume = 31 | issue = 3 | pages = 1064–1083 | publisher = Elsevier | doi = 10.1016/j.ympev.2003.10.003 | pmid = 15120401 | bibcode = 2004MolPE..31.1064L | url = http://www.wzw.tum.de/wildbio/paper/cerphyl.pdf#search=%22Barbary%20red%20deer%22 | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080309051303/http://www.wzw.tum.de/wildbio/paper/cerphyl.pdf#search=%22Barbary%20red%20deer%22 | archivedate = 2008-03-09| format= PDF|accessdate = 2007-06-04}}</ref>
It lives in northern Bhutan and southern Tibet, where it is recorded from the [[Chumbi Valley]] close to [[Sikkim]] and from [[Lake Manasarovar]]. It was believed to be completely extinct until a small population was rediscovered in 1988 in Bhutan and southeastern Tibet. The original range probably covered many smaller valleys of the [[Brahmaputra River]] to the north of the Himalaya ([[Yarlung Tsangpo River]]).<ref name="Geist"/>
A survey in 1995 brought the exciting finding, that a population of about 200 Tibetan red deer still persists to the north of the Yarlung Tsangpo River close to the village of [[Zhenqi]]. As this is the only known viable population of this deer, it is planned to establish a reserve for protection here. Evidence for some other [[Relict (biology)|relict]] populations has been found around the [[Subansiri River]].<ref>George B. Schaller, Wulin Liua and Xiaoming Wang: ''Status of Tibet red deer''. Oryx (1996), 30:269-274. [http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=4946816 online]</ref>

They are preyed on by the [[Himalayan wolf]].<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://cdn.downtoearth.org.in/library/0.69048700_1565775720_dietary-spectrum-in-himalayan-wolves.pdf|journal=Journal of Zoology|title=Dietary spectrum in Himalayan wolves: comparative analysis of prey choice in conspecifics across high-elevation rangelands of Asia|author1=S. Balajeid Lyngdoh|author2=B. Habib|author3=S. Shrotriya|issn=0952-8369|access-date=29 March 2022}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q742925}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:deer, red, Tibetan}}
[[Category:Cervus|Tibetan red deer]]
[[Category:Mammals of Tibet]]
[[Category:Mammals described in 1823|Tibetan red deer]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Georges Cuvier|Tibetan red deer]]