Nijhum Dwip deer
My previous letter on the subject was a knee-jerk and totally sentimental reaction on the proliferation of the Nijhum Deer, given my lifelong concern for our forests and wildlife. Dr Reza Khan has done an admirable job (DS 12 Sept) in putting the issue in its correct perspective given the present conditions, while mine were at least 40-50 years old. Actually I was influenced by a recent documentary in the National Geographic which depicted a South African couple who reared a pair of tiger cubs on their sprawling farm, cared for them, trained them to hunt and within 2-3 years gradually released them into the wild. Five years later they were flourishing with a family. Imagine wild Bengal tigers in Africa, when this magnificent creature faces decimation in its own homeland!!!
Since one cannot depend on the Forest Dept for such dedication ( DS headline of 30,000 trees plundered on the Cox's Bazar shoreline only reinforces that view), we must look to other means to rear this God-sent boon for the mutual benefit of all, especially the deer. Therefore, Dr Reza's options of 1) Restricted hunting and 2) selective culling periodically are perhaps, the best. Briefly, we can follow the policy of Kenya with regard to hunting of only male antlered deer. Only foreign tourists paying in FE are eligible. Prices are steep because they have organized the whole wildlife tourism into a flourishing industry that now nets them as much as we earn from our garments export. My son who stays there, has taken us on many safaris to some of the more accessible Parks like Tsavo East and West, Ambolesi, Rift Valley and the shoreline resorts and parks that line the 70 mile stretch from Mombasa to Malindi. What a pity that we cannot replicate what the Kenyans have done, in spite of having better natural spectacles, beauty, possibilities and infrastructure. Declare Nijhum Dwip as a Protected National Park as a first step, but before anything else, get the Forest Dept out of there.
Secondly, we should go for selective culling of a number of deer every year, that can be sold as fresh meat or canned. A small processing unit would pay rich dividends and I am sure the giant local processors like, PRAN, ACI, Square, RahimAfroz etc would take it up as a CSR project even if there is loss initially. Export earnings from venison, skin, antlers, bones, fat etc are also nothing to be sneezed at.
With regard to neutering the deer, I am against it. Why should the deer suffer for the follies and foibles of the human race. Let THEM be neutered and save the planet for the wildlife.
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