Too many deer at Delhi’s Deer Park, some may be moved to leopard territory

According to a senior forest department official, the department intends to move between 300 and 400 deer to the wildlife sanctuary to promote ecotourism and curb the possibility of inbreeding depression at the Deer Park.

With regeneration efforts underway at the 32.71 sq km Asola sanctuary to restore the natural ecosystem of the Aravallis, herbivores are now likely to have access to enough grass and leaves, the official said, adding that the Deer Park has “excess deer”. The official said the sanctuary is already home to a few herds of deer. The relocated deer will be set free there, instead of being kept in an enclosure.

Both the forest department official and a source closely working with the sanctuary said that the prey base at the sanctuary was already abundant, considering the monkeys that the leopards feed on.

The Deer Park is categorised as a ‘mini zoo’ by the CZA and functions under the Delhi Development Authority (DDA).

Rajeev Kumar Tiwari, Principal Commissioner, DDA, said: “We intend to close it (the deer enclosure) down due to lack of technical manpower to run a mini zoo. The deer may be shifted to forest areas as decided by the CZA. We are yet to receive the approval of the CZA.” He added that the Forest Department had reached out to the DDA and then approached the CZA.

The Deer Park, set up in the 1960s, began with five or six deer. In the absence of a carnivore, these animals have now multiplied to nearly 500 inside a limited area, officials said.

According to a report by the Forest Department and the Bombay Natural History Society last year, data collected through camera traps showed the presence of at least eight leopards at Asola sanctuary. The report also mentioned the presence of spotted deer, black buck, sambar deer and hog deer at the sanctuary. It found that sambar deer and black buck were the least abundant species there.

The report said: “Sambar deer were shifted in (to the) forest from the Delhi Golf Club by the Forest Department. But over the years only two of them have been left alive as they serve as a prey species for large carnivores like the leopard.”

On the spotted deer, it said: “Due to population decline of chital in ABWS (Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary), the Forest Department has constructed an enclosure. Now, large numbers of chitals can be spotted across the sanctuary with highest concentration near the enclosure which has been kept open.”