Endangered Mouse Deer discovered in Eturnagaram sanctuary
Considered endangered in India and listed in the Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, the mouse deer (Moschiola indica) is accorded the same protection level as that of the tiger, which finds a place in the same Schedule.
Caption:
Infrared camera trap image of a mouse deer captured in the first week of February at the Eturnagaram wildlife sanctuary, believed to be the first such discovery of the species in the wild in Telangana. — SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
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Balu Pulipaka I DC
HYDERABAD, Feb. 14
In a first of its kind discovery, the endangered mouse deer, a diminutive animal, has been photographed in the wild for the first time in the Eturunagaram wildlife sanctuary.
A single mouse deer, also known as chevrotain in some parts of the world, was photographed by a trap camera in the the Lingala range of the Tadvai division of the sanctuary earlier this month, raising hopes of existence of a wild population of the species that is rarely seen. Considered endangered in India, and listed in the Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, the mouse deer (Moschiola indica) is accorded the same protection level as that of the tiger, which finds a place in the same Schedule.
Several mouse deer are present in the Amrabad tiger reserve in the state, but this population is derived from the offspring of the species recovery programme for the animal with a breeding centre in Hyderabad’s Nehru Zoological Park from where several groups of mouse deer were taken and released in the tiger reserve.
“Finding this species in wild is a matter of joy as it is considered very rare and the species is very sensitive to habitat disturbance. We will now look at steps that we can take to see if we can do an estimation of its population, and closer look at its habitat and any additional protection measures that may be required for its numbers to grow,” district forest officer Rahul Jadhav told Deccan Chronicle on Saturday.
