The second group of Iranian yellow deer, bred in captivity, was released in the forests of Khuzestan.
As reported by Mehr newspaper Gholamreza Abdali, head of the environmental wildlife protection and management office, said about the release of the second group of Iranian yellow deer bred in captivity: This work is to strengthen the population released in 2019, which increased to 17 yellow deer from the reproduction and breeding site of Ilam province (Manesht and Ghelarang), consisting of 12 males and five females, were captured alive and sent to Khuzestan province.
He added: “This group of 16 deer was again transferred to Khuzestan, from the Manesht and Ghelarang sites, with the combination of 10 male and 6 females, with the purpose of returning the Iranian yellow deer to its original habitat, Dez and Karkheh forests.”
Stating that the forests of Dez have welcomed the Iranian yellow deer, again, after nearly 65 years, Abdali added: “A species that was thought to be extinct, like the Iranian lion and the Mazandaran tiger, was found in 1955 by a German biologist named Werner Trense” in Karkheh region of Khuzestan province.”
Abdali continued: “After that, in 1963 and 1964 a team from the hunting club captured the yellow deer alive in the forests of Karkheh. Another 6 yellow deer were captured alive and sent to the enclosed 55 hectares of Dashte Naz, near Sari. The captive breeding project of this valuable species, which were once prey to the Iranian lions, was launched. After that, in 2006, the organization started building numerous centers in various provinces to transfer the yellow deer from the beautiful plains of Sari and reproduce and breed it in multiple spots.”
According to this official, Iranian yellow deer are now kept with a population of nearly 300 in the reproduction and restoration sites of Dasht Naz Sari, Ashk Island, Mianketel, Arsanjan, Bagh Shadi Herat, Halveh Karkheh, Mianrood Dez, Manesht and Ghelarang.
The head of the organization’s wildlife protection and management office said: “In the action plan for protecting the Iranian yellow deer and increasing the lost natural population of this species, the capture and release program was successfully carried out in two stages. In cooperation with the General Directorate of Environmental Protection of Ilam and Shirdal Wildlife Conservation Institute (which currently implements the project of training and empowering local communities in the habitats of this species to increase awareness and reduce the possibility of illegal hunting of this species), live capture from the reproduction site of Manesht and Ghelarang was done by anesthetizing and sending them with special boxes for transporting deer and moving to the primary habitat and release in its habitat in Dez protected area with the cooperation of the General Department of Environmental Protection of Khuzestan.
Today, because the main population of yellow deer in Iran lives in semi captive environments the Office of Wildlife Protection and Management has taken necessary action by compiling a plan of action for the protection of yellow deer and implementing a strict and scientific approach to rehabilitate the lost populations of this species in its main habitats in the province of Khuzestan. This office tries to maintain the fragile population of this species in the future by implementing medium and long-term programs.
