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Deer sanctuary to be built in West Nusa Tenggara
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Red deer fight during rutting season at a wildlife park in Bonn, Germany, on Oct. 27, 2016. (AP/Markus Schreiber)
West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) plans to build a deer sanctuary this year to reverse the decline in the deer population.
NTB Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) head Widada said on Monday that the planned 1.5-hectare sanctuary for the animal, which is the mascot of West Nusa Tenggara, will be located in Gunung Tunak Nature Park in Central Lombok.
“We will place 20 to 30 deer within the sanctuary,” Widada said, adding that the deer population in the province was no more than 2,000, scattered around Mount Rinjani, Mount Tambora, Moyo Island, the protected forests in Lombok and Sumbawa, and in breeding centers.
In 2005, the deer population reached 6,000 in Lombok and Sumbawa, he added.
Illegal hunting, climate change and habitat destruction were the reasons behind the decreasing number, said Widada.
The BKSDA coordinator for forest ecosystem control, Tri Endang, said the ecosystem of the deer sanctuary would be made similar to that of their natural habitat.
“Hopefully they will breed well within the sanctuary,” said Tri, adding that the deer reproduction cycle was one year.
