Guwahati, Feb. 19: A second batch of eastern swamp deer is being translocated from Kaziranga National Park to Manas National Park.

Altogether 17 swamp deer were sent in a truck from the central range of Kaziranga and they will reach Manas tonight.

"The plan was to send 20 deer but only 17 could be sent. We took adequate care to see that everything goes according to accepted protocol," Kaziranga director Satyendra Singh told The Telegraph.

Earlier, 19 swamp deer had been translocated in 2014 to Manas and the population has increased to 26.

"Till now, the translocation process has been a success and we hope it will be the same in the future," a forest official said.

The state of conservation report of Manas, which has been sent to the World Heritage Committee, says the success of the whole translocation exercise of eastern swamp deer and their subsequent survival in Manas largely depends on the positive support of these local communities in playing a proactive role in conservation activities.

"The Manas park authorities, with the support of the Wildlife Trust of India, have organised a series of awareness activities to bring out the local people into the conservation fold and encourage them to participate in the protection and promotion of wildlife of Manas National Park. The priority was given to the local students to enhance the level of awareness and enthusiasm towards wildlife conservation. Awareness programmes and exposure trips for students, local villagers and media groups helped in strengthening the people's support for the conservation of the deer sub-species," it said.

The plan is to monitor the survival, dispersion and ecology of the translocated eastern swamp deer in Manas through various approaches and enlist the support of local communities by conducting awareness programmes and community-based conservation activities in the Manas landscape.

During the 19th century, the eastern swamp deer were distributed all over the Brahmaputra flood plains and the Terai foothills of the Eastern Himalayas.

However, the rapid seizure of grasslands for agricultural use and excessive hunting caused heavy decline in the population, bringing the sub-species to the verge of extinction.

The last major population of the deer now resides in a single isolated population in Kaziranga.

The swamp deer population in Kaziranga is 1,148.