is the dark brown stripe running down the chital's back. The hairs are smooth and flexible. Distribution and habitat The chital ranges over 8–30°N in India and through Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. The western limit of its range is eastern Rajasthan and Gujarat. The northern limit is along the Terai belt of the foothills of the Himalaya and from Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal through to Nepal, northern West Bengal and Sikkim and then to western Assam and the forested valleys of Bhutan, which are below an elevation of . The eastern limit of its range is through western Assam to the Sunderbans of West Bengal and Bangladesh. Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Sri Lanka are the southern limits. Chital occur sporadically in the forested areas throughout the rest of the Indian peninsula. Within Bangladesh, it currently only exists in the Sundarbans and some ecoparks situated around the Bay of Bengal, as it became extinct in the central and north-east of the country. Australia The chital was the first species of deer introduced into Australia in the early 1800s by Dr. John Harris, surgeon to the New South Wales Corps, and he had about 400 of these animals on his property by 1813. These did not survive, and the primary range of the chital is now confined to a few cattle stations in North Queensland near Charters Towers and several feral herds on the NSW north and south coasts. While some of the stock originated from Sri Lanka (Ceylon), the Indian race likely is also represented. The United States In the 1860s, axis deer were introduced to the island of Molokai, Hawaii, as a gift from Hong Kong to King Kamehameha V. The deer were introduced to Lanai, another of the Hawaiian Islands, soon afterward and are now plentiful on both islands. The deer were introduced to Maui island in the 1950s to increase hunting opportunities. Because the deer have no natural predators on the Hawaiian islands, their population is growing 20 to 30% each year, causing serious damage to agriculture and natural areas. Releasing them on the island of Hawaii was planned, as well, but this was abandoned after pressure from scientists over damage to landscapes caused by the deer on other islands. In 2012, deer were spotted on the island of Hawaii; wildlife officials believe people had flown the deer by helicopter and transported them by boat