The Bhitarkanika forest personnel on Monday evening rescued a 3-foot-long spotted deer from Alava village under Pattamundai NAC after the villagers saved the animal from a village pond and informed the forest officials.
According to villagers, some youth, who were playing in the village field, found the deer moving in the village.
They tried to catch the antelope, which ran into the pond. The deer failed to come out of the pond as the water body was full of weeds.
Some youth entered into the pond and retrieved the animal. The villagers brought the matter to the notice of DFO of Rajnagar, AK Jena, following which a team of forest officials, led by Jena, reached the village and took the deer from their possession in order to leave it in the wild of the Bhitarkanika National Park.
While the forest officials suspected that the antelope might have left the National Park area in quest of water to quench its thirst, the locals felt it fell a prey in the hands of taxidermists.
While the taxidermists were taking the deer with them to kill it and sell its venison, the antelope might have escaped from their clutches and entered into the jungle in night, they believed.
It may be noted that the deer population has been decreasing day by day in the National Park allegedly due to poaching.
If sources are to be believed, the spotted deer were mercilessly killed by the local poachers, who trap and kill the antelopes to earn a fast buck by slyly selling their venison, antlers and hide in the local market.
The locals alleged that rampant poaching of deer has been going on in the forest of the National Park.
About three to four deer are trapped and killed by the poachers and taxidermists every month, they said.
Poachers trap spotted deer by spreading nylon nets and loops on the paddy fields, mostly in the unprotected areas, while the animals go to the water bodies to drink.
Even the poachers also trap deer outside the boundary of the National Park when the antelopes come out of the forest.
According to the locals, the poachers trap the deer either in early morning or at nightfall. Later, they kill the animals and sell them in the nearby villages or send their venison to Paradip through boats in the water route.
Environmentalists say the poachers have evolved an easy way to catch the deer, as they go through the river inlets, creeks and nullahs of Bhitarkanika on the plea of collecting wood taking with them different kinds of equipment.
They spread nylon nets in the area slyly, which serve the dual purpose of catching deer and collecting wood.
As there is no sound of firing, the locals do not come to know about the poachers' activities.
The Bhitarknaika National Park, it may be pointed out, is home to more than 5,000 spotted deer.
