Mammals · Artiodactyla · Cervidae

Pampas Deer

Ozotoceros bezoarticus

Near Threatened

It could become endangered in the near future if current threats go unchecked. See full glossary

The pampas deer, guazú ti'í or guasutĩ in Guaraní, is a medium-sized deer endemic to the plains of temperate South America. Once distributed from the tropics to Patagonia, it used to be the most widespread deer in Uruguay. Because of mass hunting in the 19th century and the occupation of its habitat by cattle, it now lives only in isolated areas of Brazil, Bolivia, Uruguay and Argentina. It is one of the most threatened Neotropical deer. It is listed in Appendix I of the CITES list of protected species. It is also known by several regional names in Spanish. In Uruguay it is known as the venado de campo.

Weight

24 kg – 40 kg

Size

1.1 m – 1.4 m

Lifespan

12 years

Diet

Herbivore

Feeds mainly on plants.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Sighting difficulty

Moderate

SavannaGrasslandHerbivore Diurnal Near Threatened Savanna Grassland Mammal

5countries 16parks23same family

Fun facts

The males give off a very strong smell of garlic from glands in their hooves, detectable several metres away, which marked their trail across the pampas and was much remarked on by 19th-century travellers.
In Argentina fewer than two thousand animals are reckoned to remain, in four isolated populations, out of the millions that filled the pampas when the first colonists arrived.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)
Habitat & environment: Open grassland, pampas, cerrado and savannah of central and southern South America
Sexual maturity: 12 months
Gestation / incubation: 7 months
Litter / clutch size: 1

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozotoceros_bezoarticus