There are several different types of unique Brocket Deer which together fall under the genus Mazama. Found on the Yucatan Peninsula, Central and South America, and on the beautiful island of Trinidad, there are 10 confirmed species of Mazama deer — all small to medium in size.
On this page we’ll share information and photos of Brocket Deer to introduce you to this unique and beautiful deer.
What Size are Brocket Deer?
As we just mentioned, there are actually 10 different kinds of Brocket Deer, so the measurements of each species varies slightly.
With that said, most Mazama deer fall within this general size range:
- Head & Body Length – 70 to 140 cm
- Shoulder Height – 40 to 70 cm
- Tail length – 5 to 20 cm
- Weight – 8 to 30 kg.
What Do Brocket Deer Look Like?
There are a number of Mazama or Brocket Deer species, all fairly similar in appearance and with similar behaviors.
Because of these close similarities, on this page they will be considered together. What normally applies for one species of Brocket, applies in most cases to the entire Mazama genus.
Mazama deer are small forest dwelling deer. They have small rounded bodies, with the hind parts carried higher than the fore legs and front end.
In coloration they tend to be a light or dark brown. This varies slightly from one type to the next.
The antlers are short fairly simple spikes, which tend to be kept a long time before they are shed.
Some of the most common types of Mazama deer include:
- Red Brocket (Mazama Americana) – This is the largest species of Brocket Deer, weighing up to 30 kg. It has a reddish-brown coat.
- Brown Brocket Deer (Mazama gouzoubira) – The coat is more greyish than in other species.
- Dwarf Brocket Deer (Mazama chunyi) – This species is a reddish-brown colour and has prominent eye glands.
- Little Red Brocket (Mazama rufina) – One of the smallest species, the coat is a grey to reddish brown colour, the underside is white.
- Merioa Brocket (Mazama bricenii)
- Pygmy Brocket (Mazama nana)
- Yucatan Brown Brocket (Mazama pandora)
Where do Brocket Deer Live?
Brockets can be found throughout South America, where they have a wide distribution and are found everywhere apart form the Pampas grassland areas of the South East.
Red and Brown Brockets have wide distributions and are found throughout the continent. They are very common.
The Dwarf Brocket, Little Red Brocket and Merioa Brocket are found in the Andes region of the northwestern part of the continent, and have much smaller ranges.
The Pygmy Brocket is found in Southeastern Brazil and surrounding areas, while the Yucatan Brocket is found on the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico (as its name suggests.
Preferred Habitat of Mazama Deer
Brocket Deer are predominantly woodland and forest dwelling deer, although they will also inhabit more open areas that offer a good level of cover such as scrubland and thickets.
Mazama deer are well adapted to living in thick vegetation. Their small bodies allow them to quickly scuttle around the forest floor and evade predators.
Unique and Notable Behavior
All the Brocket species of deer have similar lifestyles and behave in similar ways.
They are shy and secretive animals. It is rare to see Brockets because of this deer’s nocturnal habits. Mazama deer are not gregarious, living either alone or in pairs.
They normally live within a small territory, marking the boundaries with either with feces or urine, or with eye gland secretions.
Brockets rely on their small size and knowledge of the habitat in which they live to escape predators, diving into thick vegetation when detected. They are hunted by predators like the Puma and Jaguar in South America.
Brocket Deer eat mostly foods they find within their forest home, including fruits, leaves and shoots.
Mating & Reproduction in Mazama Deer Species
Male Brocket Deer normally mate with females that live in close proximity to them. Males will compete with each other for access to receptive females by biting and trying to stab at each other with their short antlers.
Sometimes Mazama deer will choose to live in permanent pair bonds.
Mostly the Brocket Deer are tropical living, and therefore have no fixed breeding season, but in more temperate parts of their range there is a distinct rutting season in the autumn months, as is common in other species of deer.
The gestation period for these deer is roughly 200 to 220 days, with normally a single fawn born.
Like many other types of deer, the Brocket leaves its fawn to lie concealed in thick vegetation. Mothers visit their fawn regularly. Once it is large enough to flee predators, the fawn will accompany its mother until she bears another fawn.
Weaning typically occurs at around 6 months of age in Brocket Deer.
How Many Brocket Species Are There, Really?
The honest answer: it depends when you ask. Brockets are one of the most taxonomically unsettled groups in the whole deer family. The traditional count of around ten species is based mostly on appearance, but genetic studies have revealed that animals which look nearly identical can be only distantly related, and several “species” probably conceal two or more hidden ones. Some researchers now split the group into more species — and even into separate genera — than the classic list recognizes. For a shy forest animal that is hard to observe, let alone sample, sorting this out will take years. Expect the brocket section of any list of deer species to keep changing.
Fruit Eaters of the Forest Floor
Brockets stand out among deer for how much fruit they eat. Fallen figs, palm fruits, and other forest fruits make up a large share of the diet when available, supplemented by tender leaves, shoots, flowers, and fungi. This makes brockets ecologically important as seed dispersers: seeds swallowed with fruit pulp are carried away from the parent tree and deposited elsewhere in the forest. Near settlements, the same sweet tooth draws them into gardens and crops. It is a very different menu from the grass-heavy diet of open-country deer — see our guide to what deer eat for the full spectrum.
Predators: Life on the Jaguar’s Menu
Small forest deer are a staple food for South America’s cats. Jaguars and pumas are the brockets’ chief predators, with ocelots and large boas and other snakes a real danger to fawns, and caimans an occasional threat at waterside. The brocket response is concealment first: freeze, let the spotted-shade coat do its work, and only bolt — low, fast, and along familiar trails — when discovered. Their habit of diving into the thickest available cover mirrors that of duikers in Africa, a classic case of similar forest lifestyles producing similar behavior.
Conservation: A Mixed Picture
Because “brocket deer” covers many species, its conservation status is really several different stories. The widespread red and gray brockets remain common across large parts of South America and are not considered globally threatened. The small mountain species of the Andes — the dwarf, little red, and Mérida brockets — live in shrinking cloud-forest habitat and are generally assessed as Vulnerable or Near Threatened. And for several species, scientists simply lack the data to judge, which is its own kind of warning. Deforestation and unregulated hunting are the pressures that matter almost everywhere; our overview of deer conservation explains how those threats are tackled.
Brockets vs. Pudus: South America’s Small Deer
South America has two dynasties of small deer, and they are easy to confuse from a distance. Pudus — the southern pudu and its northern counterpart — are even smaller than brockets, chunkier, and confined to temperate and Andean forests, while brockets span the tropical lowlands and foothills across most of the continent. Both wear simple spike antlers and both live secretive, solitary lives in dense cover. The taruca, by contrast, is a mid-sized deer of open Andean slopes with forked antlers — proof that South America’s deer radiated into almost every available niche.
What is the smallest brocket deer?
The pygmy brocket of Brazil and the dwarf brocket of the Andes compete for the title, with adults of the smallest forms weighing somewhere in the region of 8 to 15 kg — only a little bigger than a pudu. The red brocket, at up to about 30 kg or more, is the giant of the group.
Do brocket deer live in Mexico?
Yes. The Yucatan brown brocket inhabits the Yucatan Peninsula, and red brocket-type deer range through the forests of southern Mexico and Central America. Local people often call them temazate, a name inherited from the Nahuatl language.
Why are brocket antlers just simple spikes?
Big branching antlers are a liability in dense forest — they snag on vines and undergrowth. Like other small forest deer worldwide, brockets evolved short, straight spikes that slip through vegetation, and they rely on stealth rather than showy headgear — the same solution pudus and muntjacs arrived at on opposite sides of the world.
Related species: Meet South America’s other small deer — the tiny southern pudu, the high-altitude taruca, and the wetland-dwelling marsh deer, the continent’s largest.
