Watch: Deer rescued from Bengaluru restaurant after being chased by feral dogs

Wildlife

Activists have pointed that feral dogs need to be relocated from the area as they are killing peacocks and deer.

Soumya Chatterjee

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In a curious turn of events, the staff of the Karnataka Forest Department and volunteers in Bengaluru rescued a deer stag from a Rajarajeshwari Nagar restaurant on Friday night. According to the volunteers and officials, the deer was chased by feral dogs from the Turahalli Reserve forest in the vicinity and it had taken refuge in an empty site in Krishna Gardens for two days. The rescue operations were initially led by Range Forest Officer (RFO) Gopal and Deputy RFO Naveen, started at 9.35 pm. Though fifteen forest staff and 13 volunteers had encircled the deer with nets, it escaped.  From there, the deer broke loose and ran towards the Uttarahalli-Kengeri Road, close to JSS Engineering Institute, a volunteer in the know said. Eventually, it entered a restaurant where two volunteers, Dileep and Manjunath, were successful in holding onto the deer before forest staff took control of the situation at around 10:10 pm. Videos of the deer getting captured and attended to have been widely shared in social media and personal messaging platforms. After examination by a doctor from People For Animals (PFA) the deer was released into the Turahalli forest. Joseph Hoover, an activist with United Conservation Movement (a non-governmental organisation) and former member of the State Wildlife Board said feral dogs are a major issue in Turahalli Reserve Forest. At least 14 deer have been killed and devoured by these dogs over the last two years. “Deer are being driven by these feral dogs to take refuge in residential areas. We have been asking the forest department to act but they are citing fears of opposition from a section of animal rights activists,” he said. “The forest department is not doing anything to protect wildlife. Not only deer but even peacocks are getting devoured by these dogs. These dogs are not supposed to be entering the forest area and they need to be relocated. These are not wild dogs but neighbourhood street dogs which have taken to hunting in packs. They get into the forest wherever the fencing or the walls are damaged. We are not saying that the dogs be killed but they must be relocated as we need to preserve the little bit of wildlife that is left,” he added.

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