Rare sambar deer from India dies after ill-treatment by Pakistani villagers

Lahore, December 14

A rare sambar deer, which entered Pakistani territory from India, has died after it was attacked by wild dogs and later ill-treated by some local villagers, officials from Punjab province’s wildlife department said on Tuesday.

The deer, which is rare and listed as a vulnerable species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List since 2008, entered Pakistani territory from Kasur border (some 60 km from Lahore) on Monday and was injured by a pack of wild dogs.

Later, it was captured by the locals who ill-treated it, the officials said, adding the sambar deer died at the outhouse of a landlord who did not bother to provide any medical care to it.

A video clip on social media shows that the injured deer was ill-treated by some villagers while they tried to capture it.

The officials said they rushed to Havali Padianawali village, Kasur, after learning about the incident and seized the carcass.

“We shifted the carcass to the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, for autopsy,” they said.

The department has also submitted an application to Punjab Police, seeking legal action against those who maltreated it and the landlord in question. Police, however, have not taken action in this regard.

In 2018, an Indian sambar was caught from Narowal village bordering India and shifted to the Lahore Zoo Safari.

The sambar is a large deer native to the Indian subcontinent, South China, and Southeast Asia. PTI