Two of the captive swamp deer in Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary. Picture by Anirban Choudhury

Alipurduar, April 3: The forest department has decided to introduce swamp deer in Jaldapara more than 60 years after it disappeared from the wildlife sanctuary.

The decision was taken after one of the animals that was born in captivity to swamp deer brought from Lucknow escaped and was later spotted. The department had been hesitating about releasing the captive swamp deer in the wild, wondering if it would survive in a strange environment.

“But we were wrong. The animal had fled the enclosure in March last year. We found it 7km from Moiradanga in February this year. Although we brought it back to the enclosure, we realised that Jaldapara is suitable for them,” said S.B. Patel, the chief conservator of forest (wildlife), North.

In 1998, one male swap deer along with four females and a fawn arrived from Lucknow. The females gave birth to five deer, one among them the eight-year-old male that had fled the enclosure.

In this connection, forest officials have written to the Central Zoo Authority of India to allow them to bring two more pairs of swamp deer to Jaldapara.

A 2004 census has shown that the number of spotted deer has reached 200 in Jaldapara. This was possible under the conservation-breeding programme

“After the return of the male swamp deer, we realised that Jaldapara has suited the animals. So we decided to release one male and two females in the wild. We will keep them under watch and if breeding starts then it would be magnificent. The new guests probably will be from Lucknow because Assam does not have any captive swamp deer.”

According to a forest source, in 1982, 10 male and 9 female adult spotted deer were brought to Jaldapara for the conservation-breeding-and-release-into-wild programme.

The 2004 census showed that the number of spotted deer in Jaldapara reached almost 200. In the case of swamp deer too, the foresters hope that the number, like the spotted deer, would rise.