Chital
Axis axis (Erxleben, 1777)
The chital (Axis axis), also called the axis deer or spotted deer, is a mammal in the family Cervidae, subfamily Cervinae, within the order Artiodactyla. It is a large, terrestrial, nocturnal herbivore with a representative adult body mass of 67.3 kg.
Quick facts about the chital
The chital has a lifespan of 20.8 years and is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 45.5 kg – 67.3 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Height
- 70 cm – 90 cmsrc for Height
- Lifespan
- 20.8 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 210 days – 227 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1.03src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 21.5 months – 2.5 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.01src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the chital?
Photos of the chital
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the chital live?
Not recorded
What is the chital?
The chital (Axis axis; ), also called spotted deer and axis deer, is a deer species native to the Indian subcontinent. It was first described by Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben in 1777. A moderate-sized deer, male chital reach 90 cm (35 in) and females 70 cm (28 in) at the shoulder. While males weigh 70–90 kg (150–200 lb), females weigh around 40–60 kg (88–132 lb). It is sexually dimorphic; males are larger than females, and antlers are present only on males. The upper parts are golden to rufous, completely covered in white spots. The abdomen, rump, throat, insides of legs, ears, and tail are all white. The antlers, three-pronged, are nearly 1 m (3 ft 3 in) long.
From the Wikipedia article “Chital” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chital&oldid=1384548433), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the chital endangered?
The chital is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the chital classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderArtiodactyla
- familyCervidae
- genusAxis
- SpeciesAxis axis (Erxleben, 1777)
Synonyms Cervus axis
Other names and names in other languages (69)
- Axis deerEnglish
- Axis deerEnglish
- CheetalEnglish
- Chital deerEnglish
- Indian spotted deerEnglish
- Indian spotted deerEnglish
- Spotted deerEnglish
- Spotted deerEnglish
- جيتالArabic
- أيل مرقطArabic
- ايل مرقطEgyptian Arabic
- ফুটুকী হৰিণAssamese
- venáu axisAsturian
- চিত্রা হরিণBangla
- Karv brizhBreton
- AxisCatalan
- Axis indickýCzech
- AxishirschGerman
- Ελάφι ΣιτάλGreek
- Ciervo AxisSpanish
- AksishirvEstonian
- TxitalBasque
- چیتالPersian
- aksiskaurisFinnish
- Cerf axisFrench
- SíotalIrish
- ચિત્તલGujarati
- אייל נקודHebrew
- चीतलHindi
- ChitraHindi
- JhankHindi
- pettyes szarvasHungarian
- ԱքսիսArmenian
- ՇիկերեArmenian
- Rusa TutulIndonesian
- Cervo pomellatoItalian
- アクシスジカJapanese
- აქსისიGeorgian
- Saranga JinkeKannada
- 액시스사슴Korean
- പുള്ളിമാൻMalayalam
- Pulli MaanMalayalam
- चितळMarathi
- Rusa BintikMalay
- သမင်ပြောက်Burmese
- aksishjortNorwegian Bokmål
- चित्तलNepali
- AxishertDutch
- ଚିତ୍ରା ହରିଣOdia
- aksisPolish
- Aksis czytalPolish
- CzytalPolish
- Jeleń aksisPolish
- چتلWestern Panjabi
- ÁxisPortuguese
- තිත් මුවාSinhala
- Jeleň axisSlovak
- čitalSlovenian
- читалSerbian
- axishjortSwedish
- புள்ளிமான்Tamil
- దుప్పిTelugu
- กวางดาวThai
- Aksis GeyiğiTurkish
- Benekli geyikTurkish
- АксисUkrainian
- Hươu đốmVietnamese
- 花鹿Wu Chinese
- 花鹿 / 斑鹿 / 白斑鹿Chinese
Relatives of the chital
Other species in the same genus Axis.
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CompareChital vs Indian hog deerChital vs Bawean deerChital vs Calamian deer
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the chital?
The chital is a mammal in the family Cervidae and the order Artiodactyla. It is also called the axis deer, spotted deer or Indian spotted deer.
How heavy is a chital?
The chital has a representative adult body mass of 67.3 kg, which places it in the large size class.
What does the chital eat?
The chital is a herbivore.
Is the chital endangered?
No. The chital is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a chital live?
The chital has a lifespan of 20.8 years.
How many young does a chital have?
The chital has one young per litter and one litter per year, after a gestation period of 227 days.
Who named the chital?
The chital, Axis axis, carries the authority (Erxleben, 1777).
Is the chital nocturnal?
Yes. The chital is nocturnal and lives a terrestrial lifestyle.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Chital (Axis axis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/chital
“Chital (Axis axis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/chital.
@misc{chital_2026,
title = {Chital (Axis axis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/chital},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}