Too many deer at Delhi’s Deer Park, some may be moved to leopard territory
- March 6, 2023
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Too many deer at Delhi’s Deer Park, some may be moved to leopard territory
Subject: Environment
Section: Places in news
Context: According to a senior forest department official, the department intends to move between 300 and 400 deer to the wildlife sanctuary to promote ecotourism and curb the possibility of inbreeding depression at the Deer Park.
More on the News:
- Delhi’s Forest Department wants to move the deer from the Deer Park in Hauz Khas to the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary which is currently home to at least eight leopards.
- According to a senior forest department official, the department intends to move between 300 and 400 deer to the wildlife sanctuary to promote ecotourism and curb the possibility of inbreeding depression at the Deer Park.
- With regeneration efforts underway at the 32.71 sq km Asola sanctuary to restore the natural ecosystem of the Aravallis, herbivores are now likely to have access to enough grass and leaves.
- The Deer Park, set up in the 1960s, began with five or six deer. In the absence of a carnivore, these animals have now multiplied to nearly 500 inside a limited area.
Asola Bhatti sanctuary:
- Asola-Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary covering 32.71 km2 area on the Southern Delhi Ridge of Aravalli hill range on Delhi-Haryana border lies in Southern Delhi as well as northern parts of Faridabad and Gurugram districts of Haryana state.
- Biodiversity significance of Ridge lies in its merger with Indo-Gangetic plains, as it is the part of the Northern Aravalli leopard wildlife corridor, an important wildlife corridor which starts from the Sariska National Park in Rajasthan, passes through Nuh, Faridabad and Gurugram districts of Haryana and ends at Delhi Ridge.
- This protected area contains one of the last surviving remnants of Delhi Ridge hill range and its semi-arid forest habitat and its dependent wildlife.
- Once the whole Delhi Ridge was a forested area, but development has destroyed several parts of it.
- Historical place around sanctuary are Suraj Kund and Anangpur Dam (both in Haryana), Tughlaqabad Fort and Adilabad ruins (both in Delhi), Chhatarpur Temple (in Delhi).
- There are about 193 species of birds reported from Asola along with large number of medicinal plants, more than 80 species of butterflies, hundreds of other insects, mammals such as leopards, nilgai (blue bull, the largest antelope of the country), blackbuck (fastest land animal surviving in the wild in the country), black-napped hare, Indian crested porcupine, small Indian civet, golden jackal, and jungle cat.
- According to a report by the Forest Department and the Bombay Natural History Society last year, data collected through camera traps showed the presence of at least eight leopards at Asola sanctuary.
Deer Park
- Deer Park also known as Aditya Nath Jha Deer Park, is a natural park in Delhi located in the subdivision of Hauz Khas in South Delhi. It was named after famous social worker Aditya Nath Jha.
- The Deer Park along with the connected District Park (that houses the Hauz Khas lake) and adjacent Rose Garden (accessible from IIT Delhi and Safdarjung Development Area) make up one of the largest green areas in New Delhi and are collectively called “the lungs of Delhi” because they provide fresh air in the otherwise polluted hustling bustling mega metropolitan Delhi.
- It is called Deer Park because it actually houses a large number of deer inside the park.
- The park is maintained by the Delhi Development Authority, a government planning authority.