Wildlife

For many of us, deer are the most familiar and most encountered large mammals. Across the United States, the white-tailed deer thrives in rural, suburban and even urban environments. It’s become so common as to often be a nuisance – munching on landscaping, causing vehicle accidents and devastating forest ecosystems.

But the deer family, Cervidae, consists of 55 species (subject to taxonomic debate) found around the world. Cervids including some of the world’s most charismatic large mammals, including moose, elk and reindeer. Others, though, are small and secretive – and bizarre. There are deer with tusks instead of antlers, deer that bark and at least one deer that no researcher has ever seen alive.

I’m a lifelong deer fanatic and have long been fascinated by the lesser-known members of the family. Here are 6 cool and cryptic little deer, and where to find them.