One of the 12 deer on WAnimals
Mammals · Artiodactyla · Cervidae
Marsh Deer
Blastocerus dichotomus
Vulnerable
At high risk of extinction in the wild over the medium term.
The marsh deer is the largest deer in South America and is wholly adapted to life in wetlands. Its hooves are long, widely splayed and joined by an elastic membrane that spreads its weight over the mud, and they serve as paddles when it swims. Its legs are black to above the knee, as though it were wearing stockings. It browses aquatic plants and rushes. The draining of wetlands for farming and grazing, together with hunting, has broken it up into isolated populations.
Weight
80 kg – 150 kg
Size
1.5 m – 2 m
Life expectancy
18 years
