Antelope dies at Deer Park

NAYAGARH: Animals at the 26-year-old Kuanria Deer Park near Daspalla continue to suffer from lack of space curbing their free movement. A few years back, a team of experts from the Zoo Authority of India had recommended expansion of the park to at least 11 acres. The team also threatened to close the park as the area was not sufficient to accommodate the deer population here. On Saturday, an antelope brought from a tribal hamlet in Baisipalli Sanctuary 14 years back, died. The animal was caged in 2009 after it attacked a care-taker Siba Jani. He later succumbed to the injuries. The antelope was being treated for ill- health for the last two months. The park was established by the Nayagarh Forest Division in 1985 on six acres of land on the Kuanria Medium Irrigation Project premises. It came under the jurisdiction of Mahanadi Wildlife Division in 1997 and is now home to 184 deer. The park is now left with only one antelope.