In yet another major translocation exercise, the Mysuru zoo successfully shifted 40 spotted deer in its collection to the Pansoli range in Kali tiger reserve in distant Dandeli in Uttara Kannada district. The animals, accompanied by the zoo staff, were shifted from the zoo on February 20 and were reached safely in Dandeli on February 21 after an overnight journey in trucks.
Notably, there was zero percent mortality reported during the exercise carried out under the supervision of the senior zoo officials.
Zoo Executive Director D. Mahesh Kumar said the deer were crate trained for the past three months for the translocation exercise.
“An enclosed area of 2.5 acres in the tiger reserve has been designed to quarantine the animals. This allows the deer to acclimatize to their new surroundings. During the period, they were tested for fitness and health. Initially, the animals are supplemented with the zoo diet and are gradually reduced over a period of time,” he said.
Mr. Kumar said the translocation initiative aims to improve the status of spotted deer in Kali tiger reserve, thus supporting conservation efforts in the region.
Last year, the zoo had successfully translocated two batches of surplus sambar deer to Dandeli. Prior to this, it carried out an exercise in 2019 when it translocated over 50 spotted deer to Arabithittu wildlife sanctuary near here.
The zoo embarked on the exercise to shift the surplus deer. Unlike Arabithittu that is close to Mysuru, Dandeli is over 500 km from Mysuru and distance was the challenge for the task.
Understanding the challenges and knowing that the deer are sensitive animals, the zoo management took up the major task and achieved success like in 2019 and 2023. The zoo adopted the method where the animals were not tranquilised but conditioned naturally so that they easily moved into custom-built containers kept in their enclosure, and later safely transported in trucks.
The zoo should display not more than 30 to 40 deer as per the animal collection plan suggested by the CZA. The overcrowding was the reason for releasing the surplus in the wild.
The custom-designed containers had been placed inside the deer enclosures at the zoo for conditioning. The improvised enclosure at the forest will ensure the translocated deer get accustomed to the new habitat as food provided in the beginning will be gradually reduced so that they would fend for themselves.
