Manchurian wapiti


The Manchurian wapiti is a subspecies of Cervus canadensis, native to eastern Asia.

Description

The Manchurian wapiti is reddish brown during summer, and brownish gray in winter. It has dark hairs on the neck and dark underparts, followed by a light-colored rump patch. It is smaller than North American elk with smaller and stouter antlers.
Male deer are wapiti-like with a neck mane, and as mentioned, relatively small wapiti-like antlers. Female deer are more red deer-like and lack neck manes. This deer is the most red deer-like of the wapiti, being adapted to mixed deciduous forest environments in Manchuria, Yakutia, Northern China and North Korea. Like many red deer, adult deer may have some visible spots in their summer coats.
Cows weigh and bulls weigh, and bulls attain measurements of 1.5m in height and 2.4m in length.

Range

This deer is found in southeastern Siberia, northeastern Mongolia, Manchuria, Northern Korea and northeastern China.
Similar forms from Alxa, Gansu, Shanxi and southern Mongolia were originally described as a distinct subspecies, the Alashan wapiti. However recent genetic research indicates that this deer belongs to the Manchurian subspecies.