The muntjac

This month, Charles Smith-jones looks at a challenging species for the deer stalker Muntiacus reevesi

Small, secretive and constantly on the move, the muntjac is a challenging quarry for the deer stalker. Little bigger than a springer spaniel, it offers a difficult target among the thick undergrowth that it prefers to live in. Although its antlers are simple things, usually not more than a couple of short spikes, it is not surprising that many seasoned stalkers still consider this small deer as something of a prize and its venison is considered by many to be some of the best available.

Different varieties

There are many different species of muntjac worldwide, although just how many is difficult to say as scientific opinion remains divided over the status of some as subspecies or species in their own right. They range in size between the giant or large-antlered muntjac from the Annamite mountains of Vietnam, standing the size of a fallow doe and only discovered as recently as 1994, and the diminutive leaf muntjac of Myanmar that weighs in at a mere 11kg. This species was also only discovered two decades ago; who knows if there are yet more still waiting to be recognised out there.

The muntjacs are all primitive forms of deer that have walked this planet in their present form for at least 15 million years. They get their name from the word meaning deer in the Sundanese language of Java and are also known as the ‘barking deer’ for their habit of keeping up a fox-like bark for long periods – over an hour at times.

The species we find in Britain is the Reeves’ or Chinese, named for John Reeves of the British East India Company who is credited with bringing the first specimens back to London in 1838. It was not until the 1890s, however, that serious introductions began, first within Woburn Park and then into the woods outside it. There were others but Woburn is generally accepted as the main point of entry to the UK. The slightly larger Indian muntjac was brought in at around the same time but did not thrive, and for many years some believed that the British muntjac might have been a hybrid of the two species, though we now know that this is not true.

Population spread

The muntjac’s spread across this country was slow at first. As recently as the 1970s, when the UK population was estimated at just around 5,000, the muntjac was still confined to the Midlands and East Anglia. Since then, numbers have rocketed with