Barasingha, (Cervus duvauceli), also called swamp deer, graceful deer, belonging to the family Cervidae (order Artiodactyla), found in open forests and grasslands of India and Nepal. The barasingha stands about 1.1 m (45 inches) at the shoulder. In summer its coat is reddish or yellowish brown with white spots; in winter its coat is heavier, particularly on the neck—brown with faint spots or none. The male of the species has long antlers that branch into a number of tines. Formerly more widespread, the barasingha is now found only in scattered areas and in national parks and reserves. It is listed in the Red Data Book as an endangered species.
The Barasingha is currently found in isolated localities in north and central India, and southwestern Nepal. It is extinct in Pakistan and Bangladesh (Qureshi et al. 2004, Md Anwarul Islam in litt. 2008).
Into the early twentieth century, the Barasingha was widely distributed in areas of suitable habitat throughout the IndoGangetic plain and the lowlands flanking the southern Himalaya. The range formerly extended eastward across the terai of southern Nepal through the Sundarbans as far as Assam. Barasingha occurred west to the River Indus, into Pakistan, and as far south as the River Godavari area of east-central India (Schaller 1967, Groves 1982, Sankaran 1989). The only known population in Bangladesh was in the Sundarbans, where it has been extinct for perhaps a century. The species may also have been in the northeast of Bangladesh, given its distribution in adjacent India (Md Anwarul Islam in litt. 2008).
Groves (1982) defined three subspecies with distributions (from Qureshi et al. 2004) as follows:
- R. d. duvaucelii (G. Cuvier, 1823) (Wetland Barasingha): Indo-Gangetic plain, north of the Ganges: Nepal, India, and, where extinct, Pakistan.
- R. d. branderi Pocock, 1943 (Hard-ground Barasingha): central India, between the rivers Ganges and Godavari.
- R. d. ranjitsinhi (Groves, 1982) (Eastern Barasingha): Brahmaputra plain; probably disjunct from the nominate for a very long time (Groves 1982): India and, where extinct, Bangladesh.
