Know Before You Go

Sambar is the common name for several large dark brown and maned Asian deer. The Sri Lankan subspecies is the largest of the sambars, and it is far larger than the spotted deer. Sambar sometimes reach weights of over 700 pounds, and they can be five feet tall at the shoulder. The coat is dark brown with chestnut marks on the rump and under parts. Only males have antlers.

Sambars are primarily browsers that live in woodlands and feed mainly on coarse vegetation, grass and herbs. They are diurnal animals, seldom far from water, and although primarily of the tropics, are hardy and may range from sea level up to high elevations. They can even be found in the mixed deciduous forest zone in the Himalaya.

Though they have no specific mating season, sambars commonly mate from September to January in the northern hemisphere. Males defend rutting territories and attempt to attract females by vocal and olfactory displays. The males are solitary and highly aggressive toward other males during this time, but a dominant male may have an entire group of females in his territory. The gestation period lasts around nine months, with one fawn born at a time. Young have brown hair with light spots, which they lose very shortly after birth. Fawns stay with their mothers for up to two years.

Our best chance of seeing sambar on this trip will be in Horton Plains National Park.