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Range and Habitat: India, Sri Lanka, Malayan peninsula,
Indonesian islands and the Philippines. In the undergrowth of
lowland tropical forests and mangrove thickets - always near water.
Habits and Adaptations: Shy, retiring, nocturnal. Solitary
except during mating season. Seldom seen, though well known to
native people as a popular food. Rapid runners who dart into tunnel-like
jungle trails like rabbits. Furtive creatures who depend on concealment
for protection from carnivores and snakes.
Diet: Vegetarian, eating fallen fruit and berries, aquatic
plants, leaves of low bushes and grass.
Breeding and Maturation: Breeds year-round, gestation
of 150-155 days with 1 young born. They exhibit a post-partum
estrous and will breed again within 24 hours after a birth.
Miscellaneous: In Malaysian folklore the chevrotain has
the same role as the red fox in European stories, "cunning
as a chevrotain". Though sometimes called "mouse deer",
it is actually more related to camels than deer, a genuine "living
fossil".
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