Sangai, the Critically Endangered Species
- Part 1 -

N Munal Meitei *

Sangai - A jewel in the crown for Manipur - Picture Credit :: Rocky Pebam

Sangai is an endemic, rare and critically endangered lovely deer found only in Manipur's Loktak Lake. Its common English name is Manipur brow-antlered deer and the binomial scientific name, Rucervus eldi eldi, McClelland. It was first discovered by a British officer, namely, Lt. Percy eld in the year 1839 and the scientific name was coined in honour of the officer in 1844. E.P. Gee who took all pains to locate the deer at Keibul Lamjao during 1953 termed Manipur's Sangai as the dancing deer.

The scientific classification of the animal is

• Kingdom - animalia,
• Phylum - chordata,
• Class - mammalia,
• Order - artiodactyla,
• Family - cervidae,
• Sub-family- cervinae,
• Genus - rucervus and
• Species - Rucervus eldi.

It lives in the marshy wetland in the Keibul Lamjao about 45 km from Imphal. Its habitat is located in the southern parts of the Loktak Lake, which is the largest freshwater lake in eastern India. It is also one of the seven Ramsar sites of International importance but included in the Montreux record since 1993. The habitat of Sangai is now protected as the Keibul Lamjao National Park since 28-3-1977.

Sangai is also the State animal of Manipur. Classification and their habitat distribution Eld's deer or brow-antlered deer (Rucervus eldi), has three subspecies namely, R. eldi eldi, R. eldi thamin, R. eldi siamensis. A forth subspecies namely, R. eldi hainanus which is found in the Hainan Island of China is also taken by Chinese zoologists as a unique subspecies of the Eld's deer (Xu et al. 1983).

The latest study did not necessarily support the designation of Hainan Island population as a distinct subspecies and regarded it as a population of subspecies siamensis, but it was characterized by a unique and relatively divergent mitochondrial DNA haplotype (Balakrishnan et al. 2003). The habitat distribution of the Species is limited to the tropical and subtropical region (93°06'–110°35'E, 11°10'–25°41'N) of Asia, populations occur in India (Manipur), Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Hainan Island of China. Rucervus eldi eldi is associated with wetland.

It has the adaptation of the hoops to move easily in their marshland habitat of Phumdi. It lives in the significantly different ecology vis-à-vis other subspecies and in divergent Morphology. The species is listed as Critically Endangered (CR) by the World Conservation Union (IUCN 3.1) and included in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Rucervus eldi thamin located in Mayanmar by Thomas during 1918 are not associated with wetland and they found to live in the resinous tropical Diptercarpus tree Forest and mixed teak Forest. They are also sometimes called Panolia Deer and can be distinguished from the specimens of R. eldi siamensis by the curving continuity of the brow tine with the beam.

One or more prominent small tines often develop at the junction of the brow tine with the beam, which latter otherwise is unbranched for some distance. The number of points in adult bucks varies from two to eight or ten. The antlers are often somewhat asymmetrical. The Thamin is typically brown above, whitish below; the females are somewhat rufous. New-born fawns may have white spots on the rump. This deer is somewhat larger than R. eldi siamensis, reaching 45 inches at the shoulder. In winter the coat becomes shaggy and dark brown.

Rucervus eldi siamens commonly found in Thailand, Vietnam and China and identified by Lydekkar in 1915 are also not associated with wetlands. They grow complexly divided antlers, which by forking may develop as many as nine tines each. The brow tine is placed at a right angle with the main beam, which soon subdivides. The colour is uniform brown, the under parts whitish. The hair on the front of the lower fore-legs becomes fringe-like. The height at the shoulder is about 40 inches. They are also found in the Deciduous Diptercarp forests.

Some observations on the habits to the all three subspecies are, they are active most of the time, seek shelter from midday sun and migrate for short period seeking water in dry season and food in the growing season. They seek the areas that are seasonally burned in search of new grasses that grow after the burn. Their diet also comprises a variety of grasses, herbaceous plants, shoots, fruits and the wetland plants.

Phylogeography And Conservation Genetics of Eld's deer (Rucervus eldi) Eld's deer (Rucervus eldi) is a highly endangered cervid, distributed historically throughout much of South Asia and Indochina. The analysed variation in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region for representatives of all the deer subspecies to gain a better understanding of the genetic population structure and evolutionary history of this species.

A phylogeny of mtDNA haplotypes indicates that the critically endangered and ecologically divergent Rucervus eldi eldi is related more closely to Rucervus eldi thamin than to Rucervus eldi siamensis, a result that is consistent with biogeographic considerations. The results also suggest a strong degree of phylogeographic structure both between subspecies and among populations within subspecies, suggesting that dispersal of individuals between populations has been very limited historically.

Haplotype diversity was relatively high for two of the three subspecies (thamin and siamensis), indicating that recent population declines have not yet substantially eroded genetic diversity. In contrast, we found no haplotype variation within Rucervus eldi eldi or the Hainan Island population of Rucervus eldi siamensis, two populations which are known to have suffered severe population bottlenecks. The compared levels of haplotype and nucleotide diversity in an unmanaged captive population, a managed captive population and a relatively healthy wild population were studied.

Diversity indices were higher in the latter two, suggesting the efficacy of well-designed breeding programmes for maintaining genetic diversity in captivity. Based on significant genetic differentiation among Eld's deer subspecies, we recommend the continued management of this species in three distinct evolutionarily significant units (ESUs). Where possible, it may be advisable to translocate individuals between isolated populations within a subspecies to maintain levels of genetic variation in remaining Eld's deer populations.

Among the three subspecies generally recognised within the Eld's deer—Rucervus eldi eldi, Rucervus eldi thamin, and Rucervus eldi siamensis—R eldi siamensis is considered to be particularly endangered following its disappearance from a major portion of its original range. The only captive breeding population of this subspecies is in the zoological parks at the Paris Museum of Natural History. Taking into account its low effective population size (Ne = 7) and the increasing levels of inbreeding, the continued breeding of this 'micropopulation' in isolation from closely related subspecies and in particular from Rucervus eldi thamin, which is much more common in zoos as well as in the nature, is questioned.

As an initial step in determining if crosses between these subspecies could be performed without risk of outbreeding depression due, in part, to gross differences in their karyotypes, a comparative chromosome banding analysis (RBG-bands) of Rucervus eldi siamensis and Rucervus eldi thamin was undertaken. No chromosomal differences were identified between the taxa at the level of resolution obtained. The study suggests that, at least from a karyotypic perspective, no obvious differences delimit the two subspecies, and hybridization between endangered Rucervus eldi siamensis and Rucervus eldi thamin is not likely to lead to impaired fertility in hybrid animals.
source :-boston university, department of biology, 5 cummington street, boston ma 02215, usa. [email protected]

Distribution And Habitat Of Manipur Sangai

The brow-antlered deer or the dancing deer is found in its natural habitat only at Keibul Lamjao National Park over the floating biomass locally called "phumdi" in the South Eastern part of Loktak Lake. It is located between 24°27' N and 24°31' N latitude and 93°53' E and 93°55' E longitudes. The park covers an area of 40 km². and the home range of the deer in the park is confined within 15-20 km2. Phumdi is the most important and unique part of the habitat. It is the floating mass of entangled vegetation formed by the accumulation of organic debris and biomass with soil. Its thickness varies from few centimeters to two meters. The humus of phumdi is black in colour and very spongy with large number of pores. It floats with 4/5 part under water.

The number of deer listed in the Red data book was only 14 in 1975. Subsequent after the declaration of the area as National park and with strict conservation measures taken up by the Forest Department along with the local NGOs since 1977, the fear of its extinction has been greatly reduced. The population recorded in 2003 was 180 (Stag-65, Hind-74 and Fawn-41), but latest updated census records since then are not available.

Biology And Behaviour Of Manipur Sangai

The Brow-antlered deer is a medium-sized deer, with uniquely distinctive antlers, measuring 100-110 cm in length with extremely long brow tine, which form the main beam. The two tines form a continuous curve at right angles to the closely set pedicels. This signifies its name, brow-antlered deer; the forward protruding beam appears to come out from the eyebrow. The antlers of the opposite sides are unsymmetrical with respect to each other. The beams are unbranched initially whereas curvature increases as length increases and they get forked also.

The sexes are moderately dimorphic in body size and weight. The height and weight of a fully grown stag may be approximately 115-125 cm at shoulder and 95 to 110 kg respectively. The height and weight of the female are shorter and less as compared to the male counterpart. The weight ratio of Stag: Hind: Fawn may be of 4:2:1. The length of the body from the base to the ear up to the tail is about 145 to 155 cm in both sexes. The tail is short in length with about 20-30 cm and rump has no distinct patch. The species have very regal and graceful Cervus physique. Its legs are thin and long, has a long body with a large head on a thin neck.

The throat of the males has a thick mane of long hair. Their coat, rough and coarse, changes colour with the season; in summer the colour is reddish brown while in winter it turns into dark brown with males tending to be darker than the females. They shed their antlers every year with the largest size attained during the breeding season, ie February to May. Sangai feed on a variety of water living plants, grasses, herbaceous plants, and shoots. Zizania latifolia (Ishing kambong), Saccharum munja (Khoimom), S bengalensis, Erianthus procerus (Shingnang), E ravernnae (Shingmut), etc are the favorite food plants of Sangai.

Feeding behaviour of Sangai can be easily seen over new shoots on freshly cut fire line area. It exhibits a bimodial activity pattern. Sangai starts grazing usually early morning approximately 4:30 am and generally continues up to 8:00 am. On cloudy morning the period may extend to 10:00 am. In the evening it starts at 3:00 pm and continues up to 6:00 pm. After feeding it takes rest. During day time it rests under thick and tall reeds and grasses. At night some of them even rest on the hillocks. Sangai has a maximum lifespan in the wild of around 10 years.

Rutting takes place in the early spring months between February and May. Males compete with each other to gain control of a harem of females that they can then mate with. After a 220 to 240-day-long gestation period, normally a single calf is born. The young are spotted at birth; these spots fade as the animal grows. The young are weaned at 7 months of age, and becomes sexually mature from 18 months of age onwards. A female is fit for puberty after 4 years of age.

Sangai In Manipur Society

Culturally, the Sangai finds itself imbedded deep into the legends and folklore of the Manipuris. Based on a popular folk legend, the Sangai is interpreted as the binding soul between humans and the nature. The slaying of the Sangai, an unpardonable sin, is conceived as the rude breaking up of the cordial relationship between humans and the nature. When humans love and respect the Sangai, it is respecting nature.

In the Sangai, therefore, humans find a way of expressing their love for the nature. Socially, the Sangai is the symbol of a prized possession of the State. Identified as one of the rarest animal species in the entire world, the Sangai is the apple of the eye for the people. Talk of Manipur and one of the first things to introduce the State is the Sangai, other than polo, its classical dance, sports and films. Now, many Institutions, Clubs, NGOs and Agencies have come up in the name of our Sangai.

- to be contd ...

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* N Munal Meitei wrote this article for The Sangai Express . The writer is a Range Forest Officer and he can be reached at nmunall(dot)yahoo(at)in
This article was posted on July 27, 2011.

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