The tufted deer, a national second-class protected species, was recently spotted in Qingchuan county, Guangyuan, Southwest China's Sichuan province. 

A tufted deer runs in a river in Qingchuan county, Guangyuan, Southwest China's Sichuan province. [Photo/share.gyxww.cn]

A video clip shows the deer running through a river, despite the cold weather.

The video was shot at 12:36 pm on Jan 19 in the upper section of the Qiaozhuang River. After being spotted, the tufted deer quickly hid in nearby woods.

Tufted deer are small and mostly feed on seed plants, ferns and toadstools. They are found mainly in evergreen broad-leaved and mixed coniferous forests on mountains between 1,000 and 4,000 meters above sea level.