Species in Nepal - Swamp deer (Cervus duvauceli)

Swamp deer enjoy the company of their kind, often forming herds of hundreds of animals.
© WWF-Canon / Helena Telkanranta

Huge herds in open grasslands

The swamp deer is a large animal living in open grasslands and marshlands. Swamp deer live in groups that easily merge to form huge herds, even up to 1,000 animals. They depend on open grasslands, as their diet is that of a true grazer, without the occasional twig or piece of bark included in the diet of the other deer species of the Terai.

Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve, in the westernmost part of Terai, is home to the world's largest herd of swamp deer.

This protected area is estimated to have approximately 2,500 swamp deer, and sometimes a lucky visitor can see almost all of them at the same time, grazing as a vast mass of light-brown bodies over the plains.