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andung Zoo in West Java and Surakarta Zoo in Central Java are set to exchange Javan rusa deer for breeding purposes.

Of the 15 deer at Bandung Zoo, three males will be sent to Surakarta Zoo in exchange for one male and two females.

“An earlier study on the Bogor Palace’s collection of spotted deer suggested that to prevent inbreeding, [the palace] would need 400 more deer. Bandung Zoo didn’t have enough deer to prevent inbreeding, that’s why we are exchanging deer,” Bandung Zoo curator Panji Ahmad Fauzan said in Bandung on Friday.

Inbreeding increases the chance of offspring being affected by deleterious or undesired recessive traits.

“We are exchanging deer to prevent [their offspring] from being affected by harmful traits. Every conservation body needs to do this,” he said.

Bandung Zoo marketing communications officer Sulhan Syafi’i said an exchange agreement had been signed in November 2017. However, the plan only materialized in May.

“We were waiting for approval from the Natural Resources and Ecosystem Directorate General because the deer are protected animals,” Sulhan said.

Bandung Zoo also agreed to give Surakarta Zoo a 9-year-old female sun bear as a gift.

The animals will be transported at night to prevent them from becoming dehydrated.