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Mazama americana
Temazate, Corzuela roja (Sp), Roter Mazama (G), Daguet rouge (F). Called forest deer in Brazil. "Mazama" is from mazame, a l6th century word for deer in Mexico. Local names include gazucho, venado colorado (Argentina, Peru); corzuela colorado (Argentina); guazu para, guazu pita, veado materio and veado pardu (Brazil).
DESCRIPTION (male) Shoulder height as much as 30 inches (75 cm). Weight 60-75 pounds (27-34 kg), sometimes more (weights up to 140 pounds, or 64 kg, are reported in Suriname). Females are nearly as large as males.
In South America, the red brocket is the largest brocket species and is considerably larger than the gray-brown brocket. It has a stout body, an arched back, short tail, moderately sized ears, elongated face and slender legs. General color is a bright reddish-brown above, with back of neck and dorsal line brownish to black, sides of neck and flanks reddish-gray, and underparts white. Tail is brown on top, white underneath and at the tip. There is a small white streak on the rump. Fawns are spotted at birth. Preorbital glands are small or absent.
Typically, the antlers are simple spikes growing from a short, swollen, hairy pedicel and are seldom more than 4-5 inches (102-127 mm) in length. Occasionally, however, an older male will grow brow tines, or even several tines; such tines are always non-typical in brocket deer. Red brocket antlers are somewhat shorter and thicker than those of the gray-brown brocket, and grow upward at a slight forward angle to the plane of the face, differing from those of the gray-brown brocket, which grow backward following the plane of the face.
BEHAVIOR Solitary and secretive. Relatively sedentary with a small home range. Births occur August-October in northeastern Argentina, while in Guyana they are reported throughout the year. Usually there is a single fawn, occasionally twins. Diet includes fruit, leaves and fungi. Reported to feed on over 60 plant species in Suriname. A good swimmer.
HABITAT Thick, moist forests from sea level to about 6,500 feet (2,000 m). (Red brockets occupy the lower regions, while the smaller little red, Mérida and dwarf brockets are found higher up.)
DISTRIBUTION Found in Trinidad and in all South American countries except Chile and Uruguay, extending from northern Colombia and Venezuela as far south as northern Argentina. According to the IUCN, in Argentina it occurs in eastern Jujuy, Salta, Tucumán, Formosa, northern Chaco, northern Corrientes, and Misiones provinces (however, we have been advised that those in Misiones may possibly be misclassified Brazilian dwarf brockets, M. nana).
TAXONOMIC NOTES Whitehead lists 12 subspecies in South America (one of which also extends into Panama). We do not separate them.
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