The Sichuan deer (''Cervus canadensis macneilli''), also known as MacNeill's deer, is a subspecies of the Elk native to Western China.

Description

This large, highland deer is of very pale, finely spotted color with gray or brownish black. The winter coat is of a brownish wash. These deer, along with the

Tibetan red deer The Tibetan red deer (''Cervus canadensis wallichi'') also known as ''shou'', is a subspecies of elk/wapiti native to the southern Tibetan highlands and Bhutan. Once believed to be near-extinct, its population has increased to over 8,300, the ma ...

, are the largest subspecies of

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

n red deer. Older adult males may carry six tines on each antler similar to

wapiti The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The comm ...

subspecies. Also, unlike other Central Asian red deer subspecies, females do have short neck manes during the winter.

Range/discovery

This rare deer was first described in 1909 from a female specimen. 26 years later, male specimens were found and its true status became known. It lives in along the Chinese-Tibetan border.

References

Elk and red deer {{Eventoedungulate-stub