A one-month-old spotted deer was rescued by the residents near Ambur town in Tirupattur near Palar river on Wednesday.
Officials of the Forest Department said around 11 a.m., K. Srinivasan, a farmer in Thuthipattu village, noticed the deer near his house and immediately alerted the Ambur police and forest officials from Ambur range.
A team of forest officials, including a veterinarian, reached the spot and rescued the deer. Water was provided to the dehydrated spotted deer as the district has been experiencing searing heat for the past few days, with temperatures hovering between 30 and 33 degrees Celsius.
Later, the deer was brought to the range office and kept under observation. It did not have any injuries despite being chased by stray dogs in the village before the animal was rescued by the farmers.
“The spotted deer might have strayed into human habitation in search of water as she was roaming along the river in the neighbourhood when stray dogs chased her,” M. Babu, Forest Range Officer (FRO), Ambur range, told The Hindu.
Forest officials said that Thuthipattu village is located on the fringes of two reserve forests (RFs) namely Mittalam RF and Ambur Durgam RF along Palar river.
Natural habitat
The area is a habitat for spotted deer as hundreds of them are spotted by the forest team during routine patrolling. Residents, who are mostly farmers and labourers, were sensitised by forest officials to save wild species from stray dogs and poaching and advised them to alert forest officials.
