The Sumatran muntjac (''Muntiacus muntjak montanus'') is a subspecies of Indian muntjac in the

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

family which can be the size of a large dog. It was discovered in 1914, but had not been sighted since 1930 until one was snared and freed from a hunter's snare in

Kerinci Seblat National Park Kerinci Seblat National Park is the largest national park on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. It has a total area of 13,791 km2, and spans four provinces: West Sumatra, Jambi, Bengkulu, and South Sumatra. Geography It is located between 1 ...

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

in 2002. Two other Sumatran muntjac have since been photographed in the park. The Sumatran muntjac was placed on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

in 2008, but was listed as

Data Deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

, as taxonomic issues are still unresolved (it has been considered either a distinct species, ''M. montanus'', or a subspecies ''M. muntjak montanus'' of the

common muntjac The Indian muntjac or the common muntjac (''Muntiacus muntjak''), also called the southern red muntjac and barking deer, is a deer species native to South and Southeast Asia. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. In popular local l ...

). The distribution of the taxon is also uncertain and may be more extensive than suggested. It is possible that some previous sightings of the common muntjac in Western Sumatra were the Sumatran muntjac.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q951776 Muntjac

Muntjac Muntjacs ( ), also known as the barking deer or rib-faced deer, (URL is Google Books) are small deer of the genus ''Muntiacus'' native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. Muntjacs are thought to have begun appearing 15–35 million years ago, ...

Mammals of Indonesia Mammals described in 1918