Drones to find missing deer of ravaged Odisha sanctuary

The forest and environment department of the government of Odisha on Thursday decided to deploy drones with cameras to trace the missing deer of Balukhand-Konark wildlife sanctuary that had been completely ravaged by the extremely severe tropical cyclonic storm Fani.

The sanctuary which was famous for blackbucks and spotted deer is located close to the temple town of Puri where the May 3 cyclone had touched land. Before the cyclone, the deer population in the sanctuary was estimated to be around five thousand.

What has prompted the forest department to conduct a search is some concrete evidence that if not all but majority of the deer population may have survived the catastrophic storm. “A few days after the cyclone we had set up ‘trap cameras’ at different places within the heavily damaged sanctuary. The cameras managed to click photos of at least four herds consisting of about 80 deer. This has prompted us to believe that the animals have managed to survive the storm. The drone operations have already begun from Thursday”, said an official in the wildlife division of the forest department.

The wildlife sanctuary which spreads over 87 square kms of area is a natural habitat of blackbucks and spotted deer. In fact, the congregation of such a large number of deer was one of the reasons behind the government’s decision to notify the forest area as a sanctuary in 1987. The sanctuary is also home to other wild species like jungle cats, hyena, monitor lizards and different types of snakes, both poisonous and non-poisonous. A large number of peacocks were also staying inside the sanctuary. “We will search for other species after ascertaining the whereabouts of deer”, said a wildlife official.

Experts believe that it will take years to re-build the sanctuary as Fani has completely destroyed it. In fact, the sanctuary has almost become treeless. Before the cyclone the sanctuary was filled with lush green vegetation, cashew and Casuarina plantations besides a mangrove forest area.

The sanctuary was also home to a small sea beach where endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles laid eggs.