Exclusive team to save straying deer in city

Forest officials say that since the stray deer often comes out in search of water and food, they meet with fatal accidents in many places.

According to the recent survey of the Forest Department, the city has a total 800 spotted deer in various places like Guindy National Park, AAZP and other areas. Sources said that the city has also over 100 stray deer in various places particularly in South Chennai.

The forest officials claim that they have formed a team, which is functioning round the clock to rescue such deer. “The public can contact the forest team anytime, if they come to know about movement of deer in their area to enable them rescue it before it falls into the hands of poachers or meets with an accident,” said a forest official.

However, Ranjit Daniels, a wildlife activist and member of Care Earth Trust (CET), who monitors the movement of stray deer since 1990, said, “Stray deer should not be rescued. Animals know their habitation better. Rescuing them will some time lead to undesirable turn-up events.”

Speaking to DT Next, Sudha Raman, Deputy Director of AAZP and Chennai Wildlife Warden (in-charge), said, “Following a couple of incidents leading to stray deer being hit by speeding vehicles, we have launched a new team to rescue them. We expect the public to alert us in the event of any deer found astray to enable the team to rush to the spot for rescuing the stray deer with care. Further, we are continuously monitoring the movement of such stray deer to protect them in Chennai region.”