Records from Ecuador include ‘ceja de selva’, elfin forest, and grasslands (3,600 m), cloud forest / montane ‘Yungas’ forests, and sub Andean forests (1,400 m). Records from Peru include the same vegetation types as in Ecuador and Colombia, but without records in grasslands or over 3,600 m. The main habitat of M. rufina is paramos and tropical montane cloud forests above 1,500 m. The paramos are high altitude grasslands (Boom et al. 2001), which are dominated by Calamagrostis spp. and gigantic Andean rosette plants from the genus Espeletia (Luteyn 1992). The tropical montane cloud forest is a type of vegetation that has special climatic conditions causing cloud and mist to be regularly in contact with the forest vegetation (Bruijnzeel and Veneklaas 1998). These forests support ecosystems of distinctive floristic and structural forms with lower canopy and thicker understory than lowland forests (Grubb et al. 1963).

Along its distribution, M. rufina shares the same habitat with the northern pudu (Pudu mephistophiles) (Hershkovitz 1982); the mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) (Lizcano et al. 2002); and the Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus) (Peyton 1999). Details of its ecology are unknown, although it seems to be solitary, active by day as well as at night, and expected to be a browser/frugivore in the forest understorey. They are shy and secretive animals, rarely seen because of their nocturnal habits. They live either alone or in pairs and normally within a small territory. They usually defecate in latrines probably located at the boundaries of their territories.

The Brocket deer is a frequent visitor of salt licks (Lizcano and Cavelier 2004). In the Central Andes of Colombia its diet is composed of 40 species of plants mainly herbs, from which it prefers plants of Solanum spp. and Begonia umbellata (Lizcano 2006). They rely on their small size and knowledge of the habitat in which they live to escape predators, diving into thick vegetation when detected. Occasionally they present freezing behaviour before escaping. Nothing is known of reproduction or life in captivity. Oxalis sp. has been identified among plant species eaten by Mazama rufina. No research has been conducted to study the home range.

Following (Czernay 1987) M. rufina is restricted to the Andes. It was originally found in montane forest and paramos at altitudes between 1500-3500 m.a.s.l. (Eisenberg and Redford 1999), from the Central Andes in Colombia to Huancabamba valley in northern Peru. It is currently restricted to remnant forest patches and paramos in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. In Colombia it occurs in the states of Nariño, Huila, Cauca, Valle del Cauca, Tolima, Risaralda, Quindío, Caldas, and Boyacá (Alberico et al. 2000). M. rufina has not been recorded for the Oriental Andes of Colombia (Cuervo et al. 1986, Alberico et al. 2000). Although M. rufina is not included in the list of mammals of Antioquia state (Cuartas-Calle and Muñoz-Arango 2003), photographic evidence of its presence and of its being hunted was recorded at the “Páramo de Belmira” in the Central Andes of Antioquia (Delgado-V. pers. obs. 2003), which is the northern most record for this species. In Ecuador it was recorded in the western and eastern Andes along the Chimborazo region axis (Tirira 2001). In Peru it is distributed on the eastern flank of the Andes in the watersheds of the Amazon river.

The southern limit of M. rufina is the Huacabamba valley which also acts as a biogeographical barrier for other mammal species (Hershkovitz 1959, 1982, Eisenberg and Redford 1999). The northern limit of their distribution is not well known.

Some populations are present in Colombian Central Andes protected areas and Ecuadorian Andean national parks and ecological reserves, but hunting still occurs and its effect on the populations is unknown. Brocket deer are a highly preferred hunting trophy and its meat is considered a delicacy by campesinos and indigenous groups in the Andes. M. rufina is considered a near threatened species in Colombia (Alberico et al. 2000, Rodriguez-Mahecha et al. 2006), and in Ecuador (Tirira 2001). M. rufina is protected under the Colombian law according to “Decreto 2811 de 1974”. This species is not included in the CITES appendices. This taxon needs to be locally and regionally recognized as a potentially threatened species; for this, more field surveys, ecological studies and educational / management work with communities focusing on habitat destruction and hunting are needed.