Being naturally timid, the sambar spends the day sleeping hidden in the woods and only comes out at dusk to feed, sometimes in marshes and lakes, where it pulls the plants it loves from the sandy bottom.

Males are solitary and tolerate each other except during the rutting season. They can stand up on their hind legs to confront each other, mark branches with their preorbital glands, or catch leaves up to 3 metres high. Females live in small herds with their young.

Despite its impressive size, this deer has antlers with no more than six points. It has a solid brown-black coat, with a small, dense mane around its neck.

A strong swimmer, the sambar does not hesitate to take refuge in rivers to escape its predators, the tiger and the dhole.

The sambar deer is found in all environments from India to Southeast Asia, including Borneo, Sumatra and Taiwan, from sea level to the foothills of the Himalayas at an altitude of up to 3,900 metres. Hunting, poaching, traditional medicine, competition with livestock, habitat fragmentation and habitat loss are the main threats to the species. Outside protected areas, its numbers are declining and it has already disappeared locally.

It was introduced as game in New Zealand, Australia and the United States.