Since 2008, the IUCN Red List has classified the sambar (Rusa unicolor), a huge deer indigenous to the Indian subcontinent, South China, and Southeast Asia, as an endangered species. Because of intense hunting, local insurgencies, and industrial habitat degradation, populations have drastically decreased.

The terms “sambar” are also occasionally used to describe the Javan rusa known as the “Sunda sambar” and the Philippine deer known as the “Philippine sambar.”

A large portion of mainland Southeast Asia, including Burma, Thailand, Indochina, the Malay Peninsula, Indonesia (Sumatra and Borneo), Taiwan, and South China, including Hainan, is home to the sambar. It is found as far north as the south-facing slopes of the Himalaya in Nepal, Bhutan, and India. It reaches as high as 3,500 m (11,500 ft) in the Himalayan foothills, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and eastern Taiwan. It rarely travels far from water sources and can be found in a variety of habitats, including tropical rainforests, broadleaved deciduous and broadleaved evergreen forests, tropical dry forests.Large herds of sambar have been spotted gathering in reserves and national parks in Thailand, Sri Lanka, and India. Sambar and sika deer are farmed in Taiwan for their antlers, which are harvested in April and May every year and are highly valued for use as knife handles and pistol grips.

Thick or dense foliage is not preferred by this species as a habitat. Because of this, sambars can be seen in high numbers in the west-central Indian forest regions of Kanha, Corbett, Ranthambore, Bandhavgarh, Sariska, and Dudhwa, as well as in the northeastern Indian regions of Kaziranga and Manas.

We confirm that pine trees have highly appealing resin for sambar on both their bodies and antlers. Pine trees also probably retain their aroma for a long time because of the sap that slowly drips from the tree and the bark, While the deer is known as the Jarao in Nepal and the Four-eyed deer in China, its common name in India is derived from the renowned South Indian vegetable stew called Sambar, which is made with a blend of spices, Although they rarely live longer than 12 years in the wild, sambar have lived up to 28 years in captivity.

The Sambar Deer is predominantly a crepuscular species, meaning that it is most active at dawn and dusk. They are an essential part of the ecosystem, having been predated by the Bengal Tiger, Indian Leopard, and Dhole. It may also be active at night and display nocturnal behaviour, Their uniformly coarse coat ranges in colour from reddish-brown to nearly black, with dark brown being the predominant colour. The undertail and inner sides of the legs have a paler hue than the black tail. The tail is raised in alarm. Especially in older males, the hair around the neck is coarse and mane-like, Over 50,000 individuals of this species are found in India, while over 5,000 individuals are found in Australia, according to the University of Michigan’s Museum of Zoology.