A male sambar looks quizzically at the photographer with his tongue sticking out at Tadoba National Park, India.

A male sambar looks quizzically at the photographer with his tongue sticking out at Tadoba National Park, India.

Sambar deer are light brown or dark with a grayish or yellowish tinge. Despite their lack of antlers, female sambar readily defend their young from most predators, which is relatively unusual among deer.
These female and young sambar deer were captured in Tadoba National Park, India.


The sambar is a large deer native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia that is listed as a vulnerable species. Deer is a group of mammals with more than 60 extant species, whereas Sambar is one particular species of deer with eight subspecies. The male sambar bears long, three-tined (or pronged) antlers. Here are images of the male sambar in Tadoba National Park.
