The Sri Lankan sambar or Indian sambar (''Rusa unicolor unicolor''), also known as ගෝනා (gōṇā) in Sinhala, is a subspecies of the sambar that lives in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. British explorers and planters referred to it, erroneously, as an

elk The elk (: ''elk'' or ''elks''; ''Cervus canadensis'') or wapiti, is the second largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. ...

, leading to place names such as Elk Plain.

Description

This subspecies is the largest sambar subspecies and representative of the ''Rusa'' genus, with the largest

antler Antlers are extensions of an animal's skull found in members of the Cervidae (deer) Family (biology), family. Antlers are a single structure composed of bone, cartilage, fibrous tissue, skin, nerves, and blood vessels. They are generally fo ...

s both in size and in body proportions. Large males weight up to 270–280 kg.

Distribution and habitat

Sambar live in both lowland dry forests and mountain forests. Large herds of sambar roam the

Horton Plains National Park Horton Plains National Park () is a national park in the central highlands of Sri Lanka that was designated in 1988. It covers an area of 31km² and borders Thotupalakanda Nature Reserve. It is located at an elevation of and encompasses montane ...

, where it is the most common large mammal.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4118150 Mammals of Sri Lanka Mammals of India Rusa (genus) Subspecies