The males have antlers that are usually between 4 and 6 inches long. These antlers are shed every year. Muntjacs are herbivores, and their diet consists mainly of grasses, leaves, and tender shoots of newly sprouting plants. At the Akron Zoo the barking deer are also provided with a variety of fruits and vegetables with every meal. Barking deer are diurnal animals, meaning they are active during the day.
Muntjacs are solitary animals that come together to breed.
The gestation period is about 7 months, with young being born March through August. When the young are born, they are hidden in dense vegetation until they are able to move about with their mother. Muntjacs are hunted in their native habitat for their meat and their skins. They are not currently considered to be a threatened population. There is no estimate of how many muntjacs are living in Taiwan and China.