The Sri Lankan sambarorIndian sambar (Rusa unicolor unicolor), also known as ගෝනා (gōṇā) in Sinhala, is a subspecies of the sambar that lives in India and Sri Lanka. British explorers and planters referred to it, erroneously, as an elk,[2] leading to place names such as Elk Plain.
| Sambar | |
|---|---|
| |
| Stag/male | |
| |
| Doe/female both in Kanha National Park, Madhya Pradesh, India | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Cervidae |
| Subfamily: | Cervinae |
| Genus: | Rusa |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: |
R. u. unicolor
|
| Trinomial name | |
| Rusa unicolor unicolor | |
| Synonyms | |
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This subspecies is the largest sambar subspecies and representative of the Rusa genus, with the largest antlers both in size and in body proportions. Large males weight up to 270–280 kg.
Sambar live in both lowland dry forests and mountain forests. Large herds of sambar roam the Horton Plains National Park, where it is the most common large mammal.
