Nature quest: Gems of the forest

The axis deer, chittra horin in Bangla, is one of the more precious belongings of the Sundarbans. This herd was seen wandering outside of the mangrove forest to eat grass under the open sky.

Sporadically occurring in forested areas in the Indian peninsula, the axis deer's natural range includes India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Its population is abundant in the Sundarbans but it is locally extinct in central and north-eastern Bangladesh. Axis deer are gregarious animals and form matriarchal herds headed by adult females.

Though the IUCN listed axis deer as "Least Concern", its population has decreased in some areas due to hunting and deforestation. In Bangladesh, it is protected under the Wildlife (Preservation) (Amendment) Act, 1974, of Bangladesh -- this has positively impacted its global conservation status.