A female White-lipped Deer Cervus albirostris stands in alpine shrubland. White-lipped Deer is endemic to the Tibetan Plateau in China. It exists in fragmented groups from Gansu and Qinghai to western Sichuan, eastern Tibet, and northwest Yunnan. Has white nose, lips, and base of ears. Also known as Thorold’s Deer. This photo and all photos on this page taken mid-July in Yushu Prefecture, Qinghai. Coordinates: 32.638764, 97.198774. Elev.: 4350 m (14,270 ft.). (Craig Brelsford)White-lipped deer live in rhododendron and willow scrub, alpine grasslands, and coniferous forests from 3500–5100 m (11,480–16,730 ft.). More than other cervids on the Tibetan Plateau, White-lipped Deer are likely to be found in open habitats (MacKinnon). (Craig Brelsford)White-lipped Deer are large. The hind (above) can reach a weight of 180 kg (400 lbs.), the stag 230 kg (500 lbs.). (Craig Brelsford)A young stag White-lipped Deer feeds among subalpine shrubbery. The short, thick velvet knobs indicate a second-year male growing its first set of antlers. (Craig Brelsford)White-lipped Deer forage half-hidden in dense dwarf scrub. White-lipped Deer usually live in small groups, though seasonally can be found in larger herds (MacKinnon). (Craig Brelsford)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lynx Nature Books (2023). All the Mammals of the World. Lynx Nature Books, Barcelona, Spain.
MacKinnon, John. (2013). Order Artiodactyla in Smith, Andrew T. & Yan Xie, eds. Mammals of China. White-lipped Deer, pp. 356–7. Princeton University Press.
