CWRC, Kaziranga, February 24, 2015: Two hog deer were found by villagers on two consecutive days and released back to the wild in Kaziranga National Park by the IFAW- WTI team. Both instances of rescue by locals are heartening proof of the local community taking positive action for conservation.
The first case was a female hog deer found in Bokoli village near Dhansirimukh that was released by the IFAW-WTI team at Agoratoli Forest Range yesterday morning. The female deer was saved by local villagers from some people with bad intentions. The local Village Defence Party (VDP) kept the animal safe in the courtyard of a house in Bokoli village and informed the park authorities.
The IFAW- WTI team at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) was alerted by the Kaziranga control room for immediate response. With no visible injury to the animal, the team shifted the deer in a cage for immediate release in the same habitat. The deer was hard released in the wild with minimum intervention near Duba forest camp of Agoratoli range of Kaziranga national park by the CWRC IFAW-WTI MVS team.
(Left) Villagers helping the CWRC team in putting the deer in the cage, (Right) Villagers cover the eyes of the deer to prevent fear psychosis. Photo:Subhamoy/IFAW-WTI
Yet another female hog deer was found today by the villagers of Dhansirimukh Bohikhowa. The IFAW- WTI MVS team was alerted and after preliminary investigation, the deer was hard released in the same habitat, near Naloni forest camp of Agoratoli range in Kaziranga National Park this morning.
This deer was rescued by villagers from a paddy field where she was being chased by domestic pigs early this morning. Interestingly, the fringe villagers kept the deer’s eye covered with a cloth to keep her safe from fear psychosis, which indicates some awareness among the community, as a result of wildlife awareness campaigns conducted by IFAW-WTI in the fringe villages of Kaziranga during the pre-flood season last year.
