| CORRECT TERMINOLOGY: (Cervus timorensis) MALE - STAG FEMALE - HIND YOUNG - CALF |
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The Moluccan Rusa was brought from the Molucca Islands in 1912 and liberated on Friday Island in Torres Strait. Deer swam from there to Prince of Wales Island where the main herd is now located. A number of these were liberated on Possession Island, 26 km south-east of Thursday Island, in 1914. As recently as 1952 a male and three females were taken from Friday Island and released on an island off the northern tip of Groote Eylandt in the Gulf of
Carpentaria.
Rusa deer are also found on the northernmost Islands of Australia, Boigu and Sabai, most likely part of the New Guinea herd. |
The natural distribution of the Rusa Deer, which probably centres on Indonesia, has been extended by its transportation between the islands of Indonesia and Melanesia over a very long period by seafarers of different nations.
Rusa are close relatives of sambar, but they are much smaller in body size.
Moluccan rusa are smaller than their Javan counterparts. Rusa body hair is coarse and notably sparse by comparison with that of other deer. The normal coat colour is a uniform grey-brown but this can vary with individuals or with season. The under parts are a light buff shade and the throat is a light grey. The tail is long and not as bushy as that of the sambar.
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Like the sambar, rusa stags have simple antlers with brow tines and a terminal fork. The beams form a characteristic lyre-shape and brow tines are often curved. The major difference between sambar and rusa antlers is that the main beam becomes the front or outer tine of the terminal fork in sambar but in rusa the main growth goes into the back or inner tine. Javan rusa antlers of around 70cm with a Douglas score of 180 to 200 constitute an excellent trophy. |
The Moluccan Rusa in Torres Strait mates in September and October, the calves being born in April and May. Calves are not spotted as in some other deer. During the mating season males carry masses of vegetation on their antlers, apparently as a threat gesture. Antlers are usually cast in January and February.
Individual hinds are attended to as they come into season and they are attracted to rutting stags by both the roaring of the stags and a strong musty odour which is released by the stags. Rusa stags rarely
fight unless there is conflict over a particular hind and they certainly do not fight as much as some other species of deer. Stags wallow extensively during the rut and thrash bushes and decorate their antlers with clumps of vegetation which are obviously meant to over-awe potential rivals.
Rusa are very vocal deer with a range of different calls which vary from a sharp alarm bark, which is often repeated, to the roars of challenging stags during the rut.
| The preferred diet appears to be grass. On the Torres Strait islands Rusa Deer improve markedly in condition when grasses appear after the monsoonal rains. It is of interest that this population drinks seawater when fresh water is not available and appears to relish certain seaweeds. |  |
Moluccan rusa are present in far north Queensland but again, access is restricted and not readily available to the average hunter.
At this time the Moluccan rusa of northern Australia hold little interest for most hunters but, hopefully, this situation will change with time and these populations will gain the management and attention that they undoubtedly deserve.
