Brow Antlered or Eld Deer | Online Record Book Preview

Cervus eldi

Tamin (Sp), Leierhirsch (G), Cerf d'Eld (F). Named after British Lt. Percy Eld, its European discoverer in 1838. Also called sangai or thamin.

DESCRIPTION (male) Shoulder height 45-48 inches (114-122 cm). Weight 210-245 pounds (95-110 kg). Females are smaller.

A medium-sized deer that is reddish-fawn with pale brown underparts in summer, becoming uniformly dark brown with whitish underparts in winter. There is white on the chin, around the eyes and on the inner edges of the ears. The coat is coarse and shaggy and there is a throat mane. Females are more lightly built and paler in color than males. The young are spotted.

The antlers rise at a right angle from close-set pedicels. The antlers differ from those of any other deer in that the long brow tine and the main beam form a continuous curve. They are forked at the tips and, in older males, there are a number of short tines growing from the upper part of the beam. There also may be one or more short tines where the brow tine and the beam meet.

DISTRIBUTION Private properties in Texas.

REMARKS Native to southeastern Asia from eastern India to Vietnam and the Chinese island of Hainan. There are three subspecies: eldi (Manipur Eld deer or sangai) from Manipur State in India; thamin (Burmese Eld deer or thamin) from southern Burma; and siamensis (Thai Eld deer or Thai thamin) from Thailand east to Hainan. We do not separate them here.

A copy of the US Fish & Wildlife harvest permit must accompany the score sheet in order for the record book to consider the entry.

HYBRIDIZATION The brow-antlered deer is either known or believed to crossbreed, or to be the result of hybridization, when in a game ranch environment.