A large female deer was apparently seen at the ICFAI Business School campus in Tura for the past two days leading to calls for its rescue by the Wildlife Division of the state forest team.
Wildlife officials however informed that the deer lived in a nearby jungle and had earlier also been spotted by local residents and didn’t not need rescue.
Controversy had erupted earlier after there were complaints of the Wildlife Division not doing enough to ensure the animal was rescued and protected. With no attempts being made to rescue the deer, the matter had even reached the deputy commissioner, who sought action on the issue.
According to locals, the deer entered the ICFAI campus on Sunday and was seen by many. It had also been friendly to people that came near it and may have entered the campus in search of food. While there has been speculation that the deer could actually be a part of a private zoo, wildlife officials differed stating that the deer had been seen on multiple occasions loitering into the campus.
After the security guards that spotted the deer informed the campus officials, the gates were shut down to ensure that no one could hurt the animal.
The situation was however clarified by the DFO – Wildlife Division, Aprihiyush Sangma who played down any inaction on the issue.
“Many have considered our not acting on the rescue as being indifferent to the situation. That is not true. We have been monitoring the situation closely and the deer’s movement. A wildlife team has been looking into the situation closely to ensure the deer remains unhurt,” said the DFO.
The DFO added that the nearby jungle was likely the home of the deer and an unnecessary intervention could make the situation worse.
“The same deer was seen loitering in the campus earlier as well during the lockdown. In fact there were other animals as well that came from the nearby jungle. We have sightings that were referred to us by even local conservationists. It is also safer for the animal not to declare their sightings as not everyone is a conservationist and could actually pose a danger for the animal,” added Arphiyush.
