9 Timor Deer With Ear Tags Become New Residents Of Mount Tunak Tourism Park

Photo of PPID Ministry of LHK

JAKARTA - The West Nusa Tenggara Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA NTB) has released 9 Timor deer (Rusa timorensis) in the Mount Tunak Nature Tourism Park (TWA), Central Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara.

"This Timor deer release activity has become a national agenda and is carried out in commemoration of the Indonesian Animal Love Day and Puspa in 2021," said Head of the NTB KSDA Center Joko Iswanto at the end of last December as quoted from the PPID of the LHK Ministry.

All deer released in the Mount Tunak TWA are the result of breeding in the Timor deer sanctuary carried out by the NTB BKSDA in the natural tourist park area. Before being released into the wild, the deer have been checked for health by a veterinarian and marked/tagged first using ear tags/earrings.

Then the deer are rehabilitated and habituated before being released into the wild. The plan is that after being released into the wild, the deer will also be monitored to determine post-wild release conditions.

"The Timor deer is a protected animal by law and is the mascot animal of West Nusa Tenggara. The NTB BKSDA strives to continue to preserve these types of animals, one of which is by releasing deer into natural habitats to increase the population in nature. This is a form of our natural alms, so that deer thrive not only in captivity but also in natural habitats," said Joko.

In addition to conservation, Timor deer can also be utilized through a captive mechanism with the correct mechanism.

"I hope that in the future we can find legal deer jerky on the market," he continued.

Mount Tunak Nature Tourism Park (TWA) is a natural habitat for Timor deer. Based on the deer inventory in 2018, it is estimated that there are around 26 Timor deer in the area. The condition of the low deer population is thought to be due to the existence of hunting habits in some communities. However, currently, illegal hunting activity has decreased.

In TWA Mount Tunak there is also a Timor deer sanctuary which was built in 2016 covering an area of approximately one hectare and currently the Timor deer in the sanctuary have reproduced and totaled 42 tails. It is hoped that the deer released from the sanctuary will improve the condition of the deer population in their natural habitat.

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