Nine rescued deer die at Guindy National Park in two months

Accoding to reports, Forest Officials confirmed that within two months of the deer being rescued from Chennai’s streets, 9 of them have died.

Written by:

Nine spotted deer rescued from the streets of Chennai by forest officials in a month long operation are reportedly dead.

The free-ranging deer were rescued from Tharamani and kept under observation at the rescue enclosure in Guindy Children’s Park. However, within two months of their rescue, the deer started dying one after the other, according to a report in the New Indian Express.

The cause of death is likely to be plastic ingestion, according to the officials. Other reasons include, internal injuries and stress factor, the report stated.

Out of the 30 surviving deer, 6 have now been released into the Guindy National Park while the rest are still under observation

The National park is known to be home to thousands of deer, just like other areas in the city including the IIT Madras campus which is home to more than a 100 deer.

The 39 rescued stray deer is said to have escaped from the IIT Madras campus. They were rescued between March and April.

The deer which found a green pasture near American International School. However this pasture was cleared out by a real estate agent.

With insufficient grazing, they were feeding on Polythene, paper and other material on the road before being rescued by the forest officials.

Stray deer have been found roaming around residential areas in Velachery, Tharamani, Guindy, Saidapet, NGO colony in Chennai.

The forest department has sought permission from the state government and will start a rescue mission in these areas as well.

Over 300 deer from 12 residential areas including Indiranagar, Gandhinagar, Saidapet, Velachery were captured and reportedly brought to the Guindy Nation.

Officials state that there could be multiple reasons for the deer deaths, including change in surroundings (from freely roaming around to being trapped with several other deer), lack of timely precaution while rescuing the deer and rough handling during the process of rescue.

Several deer deaths were also reported in IIT Madras campus over the last year. The deaths were mostly due to alleged negligence by the management. Animal rights activists also protested against the dumping of chemical waste which included several bottles of lab reagents found behind the hostel. Pictures that circulated showed a few deer feed on these chemical wastes dumped freely in the campus.

Read: Blackbuck mowed down in Chennai’s Guindy National Park, activists ask how car was let in

Art