Sambar
deer live in herds of 5-6 individuals including one male in the woodlands of
India, China, South-East Asia. They are also present in Australia and New Zealand
where they were introduced for the purpose of game hunting. They are herbivorous
with a diet consisting of grass, fruit and bamboo buds. Tigers rate them highly
on the delicious food scale but unfortunately so do a lot of people who consider
them as 'bush meat.' Whilst most hunters shoot them, many are captured in cruel
snares and endure painful hoof and leg injuries. Their status on the IUCN Red
List of Threatened Species is in the lower risk category, being of least concern.
