Excess park deer to feed carnivores

To regulate their population, forest department officers annually relocate more than 150 deer every year from these parks to Amrabad and Kawal tiger reserves, which are home to tiger, leopard, wild dog and hyena.

From this year, the Kinnerasani sanctuary will be added to the list, and also some interior forest areas of Warangal.

The Mahavir National Park has more than 1,000 spotted deer and over 500 blackbuck, Mrugavani has nearly 600 spotted deer. The Nehru Zoological Park has nearly 400 spotted deer.

Relocation of deer, however, is no easy task because they are delicate and die if not handled properly.

The Telangana forest department uses an interesting technique to trap and relocate the deer. Foresters build a large ‘kraal’ made of chainlink mesh, that is 30 metres long and 20 metres wide. Covered with jute bags, the kraal has three gates, two for entry and one connecting to an adjoining narrow cage.

Hay and feed are placed inside the kraal along with water mixed with medicines to treating infections or worms. The arrangement is left undisturbed for several days.

Once the deer become confident enough, they venture inside the kraal. As time passes, up to 20 deer enter the kraal at a time.

When the deer get habituated to it, foresters post a man above the kraal. When the deer enter the structure, the man shuts the gates. The third gate, which leads to the cage, is opened, and the deer walk into it. At the end of the cage is a chain of wooden boxes placed in the form of a tunnel.

Seeing, literally, light at the end of tunnel the deer try to escape towards it. As soon as they enter the boxes, they are shut one by one and deer get entrapped. These boxes are transported to their destinations.