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No Chital Carcasses Were in Good Marrow Condition During the Monsoon in Kanha

Adult male Chital standing in grassland in Kanha, central India
Research · Physiology

A study of predator-killed chital (Axis axis) in Kanha Tiger Reserve, India found marked seasonal variation in bone marrow condition. Researchers examined 52 fresh carcasses and recorded no individuals in the good-condition category during the monsoon.

Bone marrow fat is one of the last energy reserves used when an animal loses body fat, so the condition of marrow in the femur can provide a rapid indication of nutritional condition at death. The study included 27 males and 25 females found through routine patrol and field-monitoring records.

Most carcasses had medium or good marrow condition overall

Across all seasons, 40.4% of the examined chital had bone marrow classified as good, 46.2% as medium and 13.5% as poor. The researchers found no clear difference between males and females.

Seasonal differences were more pronounced. No monsoon carcass fell into the good category, whereas good-condition marrow was recorded in both summer and winter. The authors suggest that this pattern may reflect delayed replenishment of fat reserves after the nutritional stress of the dry summer, even though vegetation and water availability begin to improve with the monsoon.

The authors treat the seasonal pattern as exploratory

The researchers stress that only seven carcasses were available during the monsoon. They therefore describe the seasonal pattern as exploratory rather than confirmatory. Because the sample consisted of animals killed by predators, it may also be biased toward individuals in poorer condition.

Sources and image credit

  1. Goswami, S., Kumar, U., & Jhala, Y. V. (2026). Assessing nutritional status of Chital Axis axis (Erxleben, 1777) (Mammalia: Artiodactyla: Cervidae) through bone marrow condition of predated individuals in Kanha Tiger Reserve, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 18(3), 28534–28539. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9860.18.3.28534-28539Primary open-access study published 26 March 2026. Researchers examined 52 predator-killed Chital in Kanha Tiger Reserve; no monsoon carcasses were classified in good marrow condition, but the seasonal pattern was treated as exploratory because the monsoon sample was small and statistical support was borderline.

Image: T. R. Shankar Raman / Wikimedia Commons — adult male Chital in Kanha, central India; representative species image, not one of the carcasses examined in the study · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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