Mouse deer population likely to go up to 40 in next three years

HYDERABAD: Mouse deer, the smallest ungulate in the country that is on the list of most endangered animals, is being bred in captivity at Nehru Zoological Park with a view to increase its population.

No enumeration has been carried out on mouse deer ever in the state but observation over a long period of time has revealed that its population is on the decline, said Ajay Kumar Naik, director Project Tiger.

With alarming decline of the mouse deer, the forest department has decided to breed it in the captivity at Nehru Zoological Park. The conservation programme was launched in March 2010 with the support from Central Zoo Authority. "Though breeding centre is at the zoo, we have kept it away from the prying eyes of the visitors. Our efforts have succeeded and in a little more than three years we have about 50 mouse deer with us," Nehru zoo curator A Shankaran said.

According to sources a typical mouse deer is only 30 cm from hoof to shoulder and 50 cm from nose to tail. A fully grown mouse deer weighs around 4 kg. The shy nocturnal ungulate gives birth to one to two kids in a year.

In AP, it is sparsely found in Nagarjuna-Srisailam Tiger Reserve, Gundla Brahmeswaram Wildlife Sanctuary, Sri Venkateswara National Park, Visakhapatnam, Prakasam and Kurnool districts.

The mouse deer breeding started in Nehru zoo with only six animals but within a year two ungulates that had been rescued from the wild were added to the flock to make the breeding genetically heterogeneous.

Naik said that there are plans to establish more breeding centres in the other zoological parks of the state. "The ultimate goal of this project is to establish a sustainable population in breeding centres and release them into wild after conducting studies on their habitat and populations in that area," he added.

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