Keibul Lamjao National Park

Brow-antlered Deer(Rucervus Eldii Eldii) 

• The brow-antlered deer, or sangai, is the state animal.
• Marked by a small tail, the animal’s coat is a dark reddish brown during winter months and it becomes a much lighter shade in summer.

• Native to Cambodia, China, India, Laos and Myanmar, these animals were earlier spread widely across habitats in south and south-east Asia.
• The deer’s habitat has varied from shrubland and grassland to dry forests and marshland, depending on the country they’re found in. 
• In India, these animals are found only in Manipur’s famed Loktak lake, in a marshland located within the boundaries of Keibul Lamjao National Park.
• The brow-antlered deer usually consumes grass.
• It was during the British Raj that indiscriminate hunting first led to the extermination of the sangai from most areas. 
• In 1951, it was reported extinct, but British tea planter and naturalist Edward Pritchard Gee rediscovered it in 1953.
• While globally habitat loss has been a grave concern in the conservation of this deer, hunting is an additional threat in Manipur. 
• While the habitats have been encroached for grazing, cultivation, and fish farming, the animals are highly threatened by a hydro-electric project in the lake.