As many as 26 deer (10 adult males, 11 females, and 5 fawns) from the defunct VOC Park Zoo in Coimbatore were released into their natural habitat in the Siruvani foothills of the Boluvampatti forest range. The concerned forest authorities had fed the deer ‘forest fodders’ over the past several months to accustom them to “foraging in the wild.”
During their stay at the VOC Park Zoo, the forest officials collected their faecal pellets and sent them to the Advanced Institute for Wildlife Conservation (AIWC) at Vandalur to check the presence of diseases, especially tuberculosis. Fortunately, none of the majestic creatures were found disease-ridden.
The deer were carefully led out of the zoo enclosure into a modified truck (used for capturing stray cattle) of Coimbatore Corporation at 6 in the morning (May 13th). They were released into their habitat at around 9.30 in the morning, but the department asked its frontline staff to stay vigilant and monitor the deer to ensure that they foraged in the wild without difficulties.
