The chital (/tʃiːtəl/; Axis axis), also known as spotted deer, chital deer, and axis deer, is a species of deer that is native to the Indian subcontinent. It was first described by German naturalist Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben in 1777. A moderate-sized deer, male chital reach nearly 90 cm (35 in) and females 70 cm (28 in) at the shoulder. While males weigh 30–75 kg (66–165 lb), the lighter females weigh 25–45 kg (55–99 lb). It is sexually dimorphic; males are larger than females, and antlers are present only on males. The upper parts are golden to rufous, completely covered in white spots. The abdomen, rump, throat, insides of legs, ears, and tail are all white. The antlers, three-pronged, are nearly 1 m (3.3 ft) long.

The chital ranges over 8–30°N in India and through Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.^[25] The western limit of its range is eastern Rajasthan and Gujarat. The northern limit is along the Bhabar-terai belt of the foothills of the Himalaya and from Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal through to Nepal, northern West Bengal and Sikkim and then to western Assam and the forested valleys of Bhutan, which are below 1,100 m asl.^[1] The eastern limit of its range is through western Assam^[26][27] to the Sunderbans of West Bengal (India) and Bangladesh.^[1] Sri Lanka is the southern limit.^[28] Chital occur sporadically in the forested areas throughout the rest of the Indian peninsula.^[29] Within Bangladesh, it currently only exists in the Sundarbans and some ecoparks situated around the Bay of Bengal, as it became extinct in the central and north-east of the country.^[1]

(From Wikipedia, June 2021)