Muntjac Muntjac Muntjacs, also known as barking deer and Mastreani deer, are small deer of the genus "Muntiacus". Muntjacs are thought to have begun appearing 15–35 million years ago, with remains found in Miocene deposits in France, Germany and Poland. It is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN. The present name is a borrowing of the Latinized form of the Dutch , which was borrowed from the Sundanese "mencek" (ᮙᮨᮔ᮪ᮎᮨᮊ᮪). The Latin form first appeared as in Zimmerman in 1780. The present-day species are native to South Asia and can be found in India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, the Indonesian islands,
Reeves's muntjac species except where already established. Colonies exist throughout England south of Derbyshire, and the population continues to grow. In Ireland, sightings in 2008 caused the government, concerned at the risk of the species becoming established, to quickly introduce a year-round hunting season. In the 1960s, several specimens escaped from an exhibition zoo in the Bōsō Peninsula in eastern Japan. By 2017, their numbers had reached at least 60,000. It is considered a harmful invasive species and has inflicted severe damage to ashitaba plantations. Also, Reeves's muntjac escaped a zoo on Izu Ōshima in 1970 when a fence fell due to