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Hogdeer
"For a hogdeer the tall grass is more than just a place to eat. It also serves as a place to hide from predators. Their brown coat gives them excellent camouflage in the grass."
Discover in real lifeFood
grass and leaves
Lifetime
10 to 20 years
Weight
30 to 50 pounds
Number of youngsters
1 juvenile
Wear time
7 to 8 months
IUCN Status
endangered
EEP?
yes
Chewing twice
Just like all deer species, hog deer are ruminants. They grab their food with their lips or teeth, chew it quickly and then swallow it. The food then goes to the first stomach; the rumen. The rumen has bacteria in it that digest the food a little bit. Later, the food comes back to the mouth in little pieces and they chew it a second time. When they swallow it this time, the chewed-up food goes through all four stomachs of the hog deer to their intestines. This way ruminants can extract almost all vitamins and minerals from their food.
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Theme area: A Matter of Taste
You’ll see the Hogdeer in the ‘A Matter of Taste’ theme area. Here, you’ll delve into the world of food: how animals find food, hunt, or avoid being eaten.
Eating together
Hog deer usually look for food in the dark. They often do this alone. But in open spaces where there is plenty of food, you can sometimes see groups of 40 to 80 hog deer together. When they sense any danger, they warn each other by whistling and barking. The hog deer then all flee in different directions.