Kanchil/ Lesser Malay Chevrotain

Tragulus kanchil

Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand

Today is about an extremely brief encounter in the wild with the smallest known hoofed mammal, the Lesser Mouse-deer. Its mature size being as little as 45 cm and weighing 2 kg. It is threatened by predation by feral dogs. I saw this shy, diminutive and even-toed ungulate in the lush, dark depths of the Kaeng Krachan National Park in Thailand.

Kaeng Krachan NP is the largest national park of Thailand on the border with Burma, contiguous with the Tanintharyi Nature Reserve. It is located in Phetchaburi and Prachuap Khiri Khan Provinces, about 60 km from Phetchaburi and 75 km from Hua Hin. Covering an area of 2,914 km² it is the largest national park in Thailand. The park is part of the Western Forex Complex that covers 18,730 km² across 19 protected sites between Myanmar and Thailand, bounded by the Tanintharyi Nature Reserve along Myanmar's border to the west. A dense rain forest on the eastern slope of the Tenasserim Mountain Range where the Pranburi & Phetchaburi Rivers originate. Both rivers originate from the Tanaosri Mountain Range. In the north, Phetchaburi River flows into Kaeng Krachan Dam and flows further east all the way out to the Gulf of Thailand. Pran Buri River flows south to Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, into Pran Buri Reservoir and out to the Gulf of Thailand.

The park was declared a reserve in 1964 and on 12 June 1981 it became the 28th national park of Thailand. Originally covering an area of 2,478 km2, it was enlarged in December 1984 to include the boundary area between Phetchaburi and Prachuap Khiri Khan Provinces, an additional 300,000 rai. The park has been included in the list of ASEAN Heritage Parks. Since 2011, Thailand has proposed that Unesco designate Kaeng Krachan National Park a world heritage site.

Mammal species such as leopards, clouded leopards, bears, stump-tailed macaques, sambar deer, barking deer, elephants, dholes, golden jackals, gaurs, serows, yellow-throated martens, various civet species, crab-eating mongooses and many others can be found in the park.

But I digress - the following are the only photos I got of the beautiful Kanchil who eke a living on the floor of primary and secondary forests feeding on leaves, shoots, fruits and sometimes fungi.

Lesser Mouse-deer/ Kanchil

Mouse-deer form the Tragulidae family of small, even-toed ungulates in the mammalia order Artiodactyla. Other artiodactyl families include deer, pigs and cattle. The lesser mouse-deer or Kanchil (Tragulus kanchil), also known as the lesser Malay chevrotain, is a species of even-toed ungulate in the family Tragulidae. It is found widely across Southeast Asia in Indochina, Burma (Kra Isthmus), Brunei, Cambodia, China (Southern Yunnan), Indonesia (Kalimantan, Sumatra & many other small islands), Laos, Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak & many other small islands), Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

It is the smallest known hoofed mammal, its mature size being as little as 45 cm (18 inches) and 2 kg (4.4 lb). It is threatened by predation by feral dogs.

Although the mouse-deer in Southeast Asia resemble deer, they are distinguishable from the latter by their small size, thin legs, and a triangular white pattern extending from the chin and running down the throat. Their coat ranges in colour from grey to reddish-brown. Males have a pair of enlarged canines that extend down from their upper jaw.

The head-to-body length of an adult greater mouse-deer is about 50 to 60 cm, while that of an adult lesser mouse-deer is around 40 to 50 cm. The distinguishing feature between the two species lies in the white stripes on either side of the triangular pattern running down their chin and throat. The white stripes are continuous in the lesser mouse-deer, but appear broken and/or uneven in the greater mouse-deer. The lesser mousedeer usually gives birth to one fawn, which is weaned at about three months old.

Mouse-deer are frugivorous. They feed on low vegetation as well as fallen fruits, shoots, young leaves and fungi foraged from the ground from their habitats of both primary and mature secondary rainforests. Unfortunately the mouse-deer is traditionally hunted for its meat, which is said to be more tender than venison. The meat is also spiced and dried.

Mouse-deer stories have been told and passed down as folklore for generations as well as published folklorists and children’s authors. Sang kancil stories, as they are popularly known, portray the craftiness and intelligence of the mousedeer. Common targets of the wily mouse-deer’s tricks are the tiger and crocodile. In an Indonesian and Malaysian folktale, the mouse-deer Sang Kancil wanted to cross the river to reach the fruit trees on the other side of the river, but Sang Buaya, the big bad crocodile was waiting in the river to eat him. Sang Kancil called to Sang Buaya and told him the king was inviting everyone to a feast, for which he needed to know how many crocodiles would be coming. Sang Kancil asked all the crocodiles to line up across the river, so he could count them for the king, and made them promise not to eat him as he counted. He then stepped on their heads, one by one, calling out "One! Two! Three!" as he went. When he reached the other side of the river he thanked them for helping him cross the river, and feasted on the delicious fruits, but Sang Buaya did not do so well, as all the other crocodiles were angry with him for letting Sang Kancil trick them.

With that let’s move onto the photos of the tiny Kanchil.

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