The white-lipped deer (or the Thorold’s deer) Przewalskium albirostris
The white-lipped deer was first scientifically described in 1883 by Nikolay Prhzewalsky. Earlier the white-lipped deer was thought to belong to the genus Cervus but now it is separated in the genus Przewalskium. The white-lipped deer is a large ungulate with body length 190 to 230 cm, height at the shoulders 130 cm and weight 125 to 200 kg. White-lipped deer have broad rounded and thick hooves that differ from the hooves of other deer species. Males’s heads are decorated with white antlers which usually have 5 pointed tines. The white-lipped deer range across much of the eastern Tibetan Plateau, and Gansu and Sichuan Provinces in China. This species inhabits conifer forests, as well as alpine grasslands from 3,400 to 5,100 m above sea level. White-lipped deer skilfully climb mountains. These animals live in groups of females and their offspring while older males may establish bachelor groups. Males spar competing with one another for females. One calve is usually born between late May and early July, after a 220-day-long pregnancy of the female. The calves are not weaned until they are 10 months old. Young white-lipped deer reach sexual maturity by the age of 1.5 to 2.5 years.
