IN the half light of sunset and as thick, damp mist swirls through the forest, transforming pine trees into dark green ghosts, a harsh, deep sound echoes through the atmosphere — somewhere between a cough and a bark — and I know that there are extremely shy and almost impossible to see, ‘barking deer’ around.

Always rare in Pakistan and increasingly so as human habitations spread, destroying precious environmental habitat in the process, these tiny deer, correctly called muntiacus muntjak, are a beautiful, rich, chestnut brown in colour on their backs and upper parts with a contrasting creamy white underneath. These dainty animals weigh in at around just 20kg for an adult male and 14kg for an adult female. Standing approximately 40 – 55cm at the shoulder and with a body length in the region of 80 – 100cm, these very small deer feel most at home in mixed forests where there are both evergreen and deciduous species of trees with lots of undergrowth for them to hide in. The male wears equally small antlers, perhaps just 160 mm in length and, as with the majority of other species of deer, these antlers are shed annually and replaced by new ones.

It used to be that amongst the small number of this species that is resident in Pakistan, that they elected to remain at altitudes below 4,000 feet but, in recent years they have taken up residence in the Murree Hills where the altitude is much higher and, close to my own home at 6,000 feet, they seem to be perfectly comfortable in locations well away from human beings. Presumably these little deer, having been driven out of their safe havens further down the mountains and towards the plains, are migrating upwards in search of new sanctuaries but they can only go so far before weather and vegetation conditions are not to their liking, plus, in this area, leopards are liable to hunt them down.

Their traditional habitats such as the Margalla Hills adjacent to Islamabad, the Jhelum Valley and a few places in Azad Kashmir, may still have a few barking deer in residence but how long for is highly questionable as poachers do attempt — and no doubt succeed — in hunting them down.

Generally these deer prefer to remain solitary until they decide to pair up for breeding purposes. The female gives birth to a single, white spotted, fawn after about 210 days which means that the young are born in early summer when there is plenty of fresh food available on which to build up their strength for the winter to come.

Like all the remaining wildlife in Pakistan, these deer are precious and should be protected to prevent them from disappearing completely.