Shifting of deer from Delhi’s Deer Park likely by month-end

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) will finally begin the move to relocate more than 400 deer out of south Delhi’s iconic Deer Park and is expected to complete the translocation process in about 15 days, officials aware of the matter said.
Once the process is complete, the park, which was originally meant to serve as a habitat for only six deer, will only have around two dozen deer left, the officials said.
The decision to shift the deer was taken last year due concerns about the overpopulation of the animals in the limited enclosure space, the apprehension among experts of the impact of inbreeding, and the lack of expertise by local officials to handle their growing numbers.
As of last year, there were around 600 deer in the park, according to DDA.
In December 2023, 200-odd deer were shifted to the forest area in Kota’s Mukundra Tiger Reserve. This meant that around 400 more deer still remained in the park.
DDA has written to the concerned departments in Delhi and Rajasthan to complete the formalities and begin the translocation process, officials added.
During its hearing on July 19, the Delhi high court agreed to DDA’s proposal to retain around two dozen deer as well as the “mini zoo” status of the park.
“We have already written to the concerned departments in Delhi and Rajasthan government to start the shifting process. As soon as we get the approvals, we will start setting up for the shifting of the deer, which will also take a few days. We are hoping that the entire process will be completed within a month. As directed by the court we will retain two dozen deer here and have also written to the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) to reinstate the mini zoo status,” said a DDA official.
In December, the deer were shifted using Boma technique of translocation that originated in Africa, officials said. Using this technique, animals are lured into a funnel-like enclosure using food and directed further towards a loading chute that is connected to the vehicle used for translocation.
“It is a slow process as the animals move towards the vehicles as they feel hungry, but much more sensitive than herding them together. The transport vehicle also has sufficient food and water for the journey,” said the DDA official.
He added that once the animals are relocated, they are kept in a quarantine enclosure within the sanctuary for some days to see if they are adjusting well. Their medical examination is also done before they are let out in the wild, the official said.
In June last year, Hauz Khas’s iconic deer park was derecognised as a “mini-zoo” by the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) that comes under MoEFCC. It was also decided that its 600-odd deer population will be shifted to the Asola Bhati sanctuary and that Deer Park will be maintained as “protected forest” by DDA.
However, after a residents’ group filed a case against the shifting of the deer, DDA submitted in court that it could keep around two dozen at the park.
“Problems due to overpopulation of deer at the park included inbreeding and insufficient closure area for the animals that are both conditions that would lead to the deer falling sick or getting more susceptible to infections. These are the reasons due to which the area could not be maintained as a ‘mini zoo’ and had to be declassified. We also had four trained caretakers especially for deer park, three of whom have retired now,” said the official.
The AN Jha Deer Park is spread over 25.95 hectares. This was the space allocation made for six deer in 1968 who were relocated from Uttarakhand. However, while the population grew by over 100 times, the enclosure space remained the same.