තිත් මුවා[Thith Muwa]/Spotted deer(Axis axis)

Due to the lose of habitats and of extensive poaching, nowadays Spotted deer is confined to the protected national parks and forest reserves of the dry lowlands.  It lives as herds of few individuals to a hundred or more.  These herds mostly have single dominant male while some large herds may have several sexually matured stags. Only the males of spotted deer develop antlers and young stags shed antlers annually but later in life the shedding occurs irregularly.  They feed in grasslands in the morning and evening, resting during the heat of the day in the shade of trees.  Man, leopards and occasionally crocodiles and pythons are the enemies of the Spotted deer while jackal also kill fawns and injured animals. It feeds mainly by grazing on grasses though occasionally browse on low hanging branches and also very fond of the fruits and flowers  that falls from the trees.