Animal field guide
Javan Rusa Deer
Rusa timorensis
In the rut a stag thrashes grass and bushes with his antlers and often walks about with a tangle of vegetation draped over them. For much of the year the sexes live apart: hinds and their young gather in herds on open grassland, sometimes dozens strong, while mature stags keep to themselves or to small groups.
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Get AnimalDexJavan Rusa Deer at a glance
Mammal · Southeast Asia · Savanna grassland · Relatively common
Known for: Stags' antlers are lyre-shaped with three points on, Coat is coarse and greyish-brown, Ears are large and rounded, Build is stocky
Animal field guide
Javan Rusa Deer
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In the rut a stag thrashes grass and bushes with his antlers and often walks about with a tangle of vegetation draped over them. For much of the year the sexes live apart: hinds and their young gather in herds on open grassland, sometimes dozens strong, while mature stags keep to themselves or to small groups.
Native range
Natural range, not this capture location
Savanna grassland, open dry forest, scrub and forest edge on Java and Bali, mainly in the lowlands. It does best where grassland and cover lie side by side.
Search near meAnimalDex stats
Dominance
50
Speed
56
Size
47
Intelligence
38
Rarity
30%
Total
221
Size scale
STEP 2 · PROVE IT
STEP 3 · BATTLE & FUSE
Understand the animal
Understand the Javan Rusa Deer
Factual biology first: what this animal is like, where it lives, how it survives, and why those traits exist.
01
Introduction to Javan Rusa Deer
In the rut a stag thrashes grass and bushes with his antlers and often walks about with a tangle of vegetation draped over them. For much of the year the sexes live apart: hinds and their young gather in herds on open grassland, sometimes dozens strong, while mature stags keep to themselves or to small groups.
How to identify a Javan Rusa Deer
- Stags' antlers are lyre-shaped with three points on each side
- Coat is coarse and greyish-brown, paler on the belly
- Ears are large and rounded
- Build is stocky, with fairly short legs
Why Javan Rusa Deer are interesting
- People have carried the species far beyond its home: introduced herds live wild in New Guinea, Australia and New Caledonia.
- Dutch settlers took it from Java to Mauritius in the seventeenth century, and it is still ranched there for venison.
- It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, because native populations on Java and Bali have declined.
- Stags are noisy in the rut, giving loud, shrill bellows that carry across open country.
02
Adaptations and biological abilities
03
Why does Javan Rusa Deer behave this way?
- Stags' antlers are lyre-shaped with three points on each side
- Coat is coarse and greyish-brown, paler on the belly
- Ears are large and rounded
- Build is stocky, with fairly short legs
Mostly active at dawn, dusk and through the night, grazing in the open, and becomes more nocturnal where it is hunted. It rests and chews the cud in shade or forest cover during the heat of the day. It has no seasonal dormancy.
04
Why Savanna grassland?
Habitat: Savanna grassland, open dry forest, scrub and forest edge on Java and Bali, mainly in the lowlands. It does best where grassland and cover lie side by side.
Native range: Southeast Asia, Java, Bali
Native range
Natural range, not this specific capture location.
Some regional overlays are unavailable in this web build.
Savanna grassland, open dry forest, scrub and forest edge on Java and Bali, mainly in the lowlands. It does best where grassland and cover lie side by side.
05
Why this diet?
Mainly a grazer, cropping grasses and herbs, with leaves, shoots and fallen fruit taken as well. It is reported to drink seldom, getting much of its water from its food.
06
Activity, rest, and lifespan
Mostly active at dawn, dusk and through the night, grazing in the open, and becomes more nocturnal where it is hunted. It rests and chews the cud in shade or forest cover during the heat of the day. It has no seasonal dormancy.
About 15 to 20 years in captivity. Wild deer seldom live as long, and good figures from the wild are lacking.
07
Javan Rusa Deer reproduction
A hind carries a single calf, rarely twins, for about eight months. The calf lies hidden in cover for its first weeks and is weaned at around six to eight months. First breeding is reported at anywhere from under two years in well-fed herds to several years in poor conditions.
Stags carry antlers and are much the heavier sex, at up to about 150 kg. Hinds have no antlers, a slimmer neck and roughly half the weight.
08
Predators, threats, and defense
09
Conservation and rarity
Rarity: Relatively common · 30/100. AnimalDex canonical rarity score: 30/100, maintained by the live indexed species profile.
- Observe from a respectful distance and avoid changing the animal's behavior.
- Do not block feeding, shelter, nesting, or travel routes.
- Use a live camera capture without handling or staging wildlife.
Speak to the animal
Speak to the Javan Rusa Deer
It answers as itself: ask about how it lives, or bring it something of yours and hear what it would do, from its own Power.
Anonymous: 3/day. Signed-in: 10/day. Pro: 100/day.
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Compare the Javan Rusa Deer
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Where to find them
Where to find Javan Rusa Deer
To find Javan Rusa Deer in the wild, focus on the exact habitat patches that match its body design and daily behavior, not just the broad country where it exists. You usually do better by working one good piece of habitat inside southeast Asia, Java, Bali than by covering too much ground.
- Forest edge, canopy gaps, fruiting trees, or shaded trails where cover and food meet
- Open grassland edges, lightly wooded plains, or raised ground where you can scan long distances
- Protected habitat blocks within southeast Asia, Java, Bali
Scientific name
Rusa timorensis
Category
Mammal
Habitat
Savanna grassland, open dry forest, scrub and forest edge on Java and Bali, mainly in the lowlands. It does best where grassland and cover lie side by side.
Rarity
Relatively common · 30/100
Native range
Southeast Asia, Java, Bali
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