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Island focus: Deer sanctuary to be built in NTB
West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) plans to build a deer sanctuary this year to reverse a decline in the deer population
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est Nusa Tenggara (NTB) plans to build a deer sanctuary this year to reverse a 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 animals, which are the mascot of NTB, would 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.
