Volume 59, Issue 327, March 2023

First photographic record of albinism in hog deer (Axis porcinus) from Bardia National Park, Nepal

Shailendra Kumar Yadav^1♦, Rabin Kadariya², Babu Ram Lamichhane³, Naresh Subedi⁴, Sumir Shrestha^1♦

¹Institute of Forestry, Tribhuwan University, Hetauda Campus, Hetauda 44107, Nepal
²National Trust for Nature Conservation-Bardia Conservation Program, Bardia, Nepal
³National Trust for Nature Conservation-Biodiversity Conservation Center, Sauraha, Nepal
⁴National Trust for Nature Conservation, POB 3712, Kathmandu, Nepal

^♦Corresponding author
Institute of Forestry, Tribhuwan University, Hetauda Campus, Hetauda 44107 Nepal

ABSTRACT

Hog Deer or Laguna (Axis porcinus) is one of the important cervids in Bardia National Park (BNP) of Nepal. They are easily observed roaming around tall grassland nearby river floodplains. However, albino hog deer are barely found in the park. This study presents the first photographic report of albino hog deer in the core area of BNP while the author was conducting camera trapping for tiger monitoring. Albinism is associated with melanin and rare mutation. These findings reinforce mounting evidence of the value of observations of albino hog deer made as by-catch from sighting focused on further study in detail, especially in the context of extending information on poorly known albinism in hog deer.

Keywords: Hog deer, Bardia National Park, NTNC, Albinism, Melanin

Discovery, 2023, 59, e31d1035

PDF

Published: March 2023