The Little Red Brocket, known as Mazama rufina, is classified as vulnerable according to international studies. It is a small deer found in the mountainous regions of Colombia that is facing declining populations and loss of habitat due to human activities like urban expansion, agriculture, hunting, and mining. While the species exists in small communities across the country, there is limited data on their actual numbers and distribution. Efforts are needed to research and protect the Little Red Brocket to prevent its disappearance from the ecosystems where it lives.

1. Behind the shrubbery in Santander (Colombia)
The Little Red
Brocket resists
hidden and fearful
The Little Red Brocket, known as Mazama
rufina is classified in vulnerable situation of
survival according to studies developed by
international organizations.
“Perhaps you don’t know about me, maybe you forgot,
or I am only a shadow wandering in the mountains”
(Little Red Brocket)
Translation from Spanish
by the Author
By:DiegoSebastiánSerranoSuárez
Photos:Takenfrominternet/PfmEdition
First Place in Student Category
National Environmental Journalism Award,
Granted by Amway in Bogotá, Colombia, 2012.

2. Few urban beings with their hectic routine have
walked through the Andes Mountains; a place full
of life but actually undervalued, because the
never-ending stress in the city has instilled a
lifestyle alien to nature and it has created in
many, rejection to wildlife.
Besides the infinite microscopic organisms that
cannot be observed by human eyes, there are
many creatures over these hills that would give
an unforgettable experience to the visitor who
anytime decides to go there and explore.
It is plenty of different birds, which will show up and
sing only when for one moment, the human body
stays still, watching quietly. Also there are reptiles
and amphibious; macro-invertebrates; and even
primates could be above the walker who ignore
them just because of the uncomfortable feeling of
looking up.
And behind the shrubs dwells a shy animal,
dodging nimbly to the dangerous humans, which
threat its life. It is neither the popular Andean
Bear (who even being so popular, is endangered
as well), nor a big wildcat trying to hurt
somebody. It is simply the Little Red Brocket.
Not many people know about it. Asking randomly
in the city about this small deer, the answer is an
expression of surprise. They don’t know there
are small deer communities, living endangered in
the surrounding mountains.
Very secretive and always alert, it walks around the
trees eating leaf buds from its preferred plants and
some fruits founded in the way. But very often, in
this lonely wandering, something gets in its way:
maybe a bullet or an arrow, maybe a trap. This
small deer is knocked down.
To get its meat, to protect crops, or even like a
game, they shoot to kill. They block its breathing,
stop its heartbeats, liquidate its energy; they take
away its life in a blink.
Where is the Little Red Brocket’s land? What
happened with the wide oak fields where it used
to run joyfully, without any threat besides the
hungry wildcats? What about the clear lagoons
where it used to quench its thirst? And who stole
the berries it used to eat? The answer is easy: the
humans, who required more land to build houses,
larger fields to expand their crops and livestock;
more plains to pave roads; and more holes in the
ground to dig mines and to spread wastes.
In the villages around, people use to name it
“venado locho, soche, bricenil, candelillo,
matacán, chonta, corzuela, venado colorado,
venado andino, venado del páramo”, and others.
However, its scientific name is Mazama rufina
according to the Environmental Protection
Corporation in Bucaramanga, Santander (CDMB).
This kind of deer is considered one of the
smallest in the world and has been identified only
in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Brazil and
Guiana.
According to the country people who have seen
the animal, it can be found in the Santander
Department (State), in high mountains, clouded
forests from 5,000 feet above sea level until higher
ecosystems called “Páramo” (a biome plenty of
water reservoirs); close to municipalities like
Suratá, Vetas, Tona, California, Matanza and
Charta. The animal has short and auburn fur,
withers height about 2 feet, and males have two
small and not ramified horns.
In an interview with the biologist Diana Vanessa
Caballero, who works at CDMB, she explained “the
deer live in wet and dry forests, mainly in primary
ecosystems which have not been affected by men,
because there, they can find enough food and
shelter. Near to human settlements and crops,
they would be exposed to any predator such as the
cougar or even to the men”.

3. These animals are terrestrial and solitary, diurnal
and nocturnal, and feed on buds, fresh leaves,
fruits and mushrooms.
Apparently, these deer might live in small
populations around the whole country, but there
are not reliable studies to confirm this hypothesis,
and that is why the number of animals existing
nowadays is uncertain, such as their distribution.
CDMB tries to collect information with the support
of local universities to update the real status of
conservation, but they have not found accurate
demographic information so far, and they don’t
have constituted restoration programs yet,
although it is clear that the deer population is
decreasing, according to the locals.
The common versions telling about its slow
disappearing, argue that the Little Red Brocket is
pursued by hunters (for meet or dissected
trophies); but also climate change is threatening
this species. Nevertheless, the greatest threat is
habitat loss, because every day it is fragmented
a bit more due to urban growth, mining, felling,
burning and agricultural expansion.
The reader could find Mazama rufina in the Red
List of Threatened Species in vulnerable status
(VU A4C). Under this information published in the
website of the International Union for Conservation
of Nature in 2008, “This species is considered to
be Vulnerable due to an ongoing population
decline, inferred to be greater than 30%, over a
period of 3 generations (21 years) considering
both the past (10 years) and future (11 years)
estimated from loss of primary habitat”.
The Colombian legislation features a National
Code of Renewable Natural Resources and
Environmental Protection, which is intended to
safeguard the preservation of wildlife, but even
with that, the activities in National habitats continue
affecting the local fauna.
Day by day, humans don’t perceive the
consequences of their globalized lifestyle. They
don’t realize about how some personal and
industrial activities entail directly a huge harm to
nature, and how little it is compensated. For this
reason, several organizations claim that while
humans are busy using their appliances, rarely
remember the ecosystems which give them the
air to breathe, the water to drink and their
valuable food.
Paradoxically, the humans are looking for a better
way of life, but at the end they can be destroying
their existence instead. An example of the
forgotten mountains is this deer from Santander,
anonymous for many people, but part the essential
wildlife complementing the water reservoirs in the
high mountains. It is this urban routine ignoring the
nature, what makes easier the work of those who
usurp the integrity of natural environment.
For the time being, the solution is to propose
alternatives for its preservation, which goes hand
in hand with support research plans and gather as
much information as possible about the species.
Other alternatives point to promote the interest
about studying and protecting this iconic animal
that is part of the natural and cultural wealth of
Santander, and establish a real commitment to
change some wrong human habits and slow down
the fatal deterioration of the environment.