Mazama rufina
Creators: name: Don E. Wilson
name: Russell A. Mittermeier
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Artiodactyla
Cervidae
Mazama
Mazama rufina

description: 51.
Little Red Brocket
Mazama rufina
French: Mazame de I'Equateu / German: Roter Kleinmazama / Spanish: Corzuela roja pequena
Other common names: Ecuador Red Brocket
Taxonomy. Cervus rufinus Pucheran, 1851,
Lloa Valley, Pichincha (Ecuador).
This species is monotypic.
Distribution. Andes from C Colombia to Ecuador and NW Peru.
Descriptive notes. Head—body 85-90 cm, tail 8 cm, shoulder height 45 cm; weight 10-15 kg. Small-sized brocket. The coat is reddish with black head and legs. The lacrimal fossa is deep. Antlers are up to 8 cm long.
Habitat. It prefers tropical montane cloud forests from 1400 m above sea level to alpine grasslands (paramos) up to 3600 m. The main habitat of the Little Red Brocket is paramo and tropical montane cloud forests above 1500 m. These paramos are highaltitude grasslands dominated by Calamagrostis spp. and gigantic Andean rosette plants of the genus Espeletia, among others. The tropical montane cloud forestis a type of vegetation that has special climatic conditions allowing clouds and mist to be regularly in contact with the forest. These forests support an ecosystem of distinctive vegetation with lower canopy and thicker understory than lowland forests.
Food and Feeding. The Little Red Brocket feeds mainly on forbs, but it may also eat leaves, buds, and fruits. It is expected to be a browser/frugivore in the forest understorey, but they are shy and secretive animals, rarely seen because of their nocturnal habits. They are frequent visitors to salt licks. In the Central Andes of Colombia the diet is composed of 40 species of plants, most of which are herbs, and they prefer Solanum spp. and Begonia umbellata, among others. Oxalis sp. has been identified among other plant species eaten by this species.
Breeding. Females attain puberty at about one year of age. After a gestation of 200-220 days they give birth to a single fawn. The main predators are Pumas (Puma concolor and dogs.
Activity patterns. Although it is often nocturnal, it seems to be active by day as well as at night, but details of its ecology are unknown.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. They are shy and secretive animals, rarely seen because of their nocturnal habits. It seems to be a territorial species with a small home range. Animals defecate in latrines to scent-mark. It is basically solitary, with most individuals observed alone or in pairs. Its density is low ranging from 0-06 ind/km? in mature forest to 0-3 ind/km?* in paramo-montane forest ecotone. They rely on small size and knowledge of the habitat in which they live to escape predators, diving into thick vegetation when threatened. Occasionally they freeze before escaping.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Vulnerable on The IUCN Red List. Hunting and habitat loss and conversion to agriculture and cattle ranching are the main threats.
Bibliography. Bello et al. (2008), Bello-Gutiérrez et al. (2010), Eisenberg & Redford (1999), Lizcaino & Alvarez (2008b).
description: Published as part of Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2011, Cervidae, pp. 350-443 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 2 Hoofed Mammals, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on pages 442-443, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6514377