Space constraint is literally choking hundreds of deer reared at the Tripunithura Hill Palace with as many 60 deer dying every year owing to lack of space.
According to the authorities of Centre for Heritage Studies (CHS), which runs the park, though the Central Zoo Authority of India (CZA) had directed the state government in 2006 to shift the park to some other location which is spacious enough to accommodate hundreds of deer, the state government is yet to initiate any step in this regard.
“The CZA has said that the park has space to accommodate only four or five deer. Ironically, the number of deer here was 120 the year the CZA visited the park. The Zoo Authority’s directive to find some other place for the park was overlooked by the authorities. Now, it is evident that many deer are dying without getting enough care from from the park,” CHS authorities said. The Hill palace authorities said that though a couple of proposals were put forward by the CZA, nothing has been implemented so far.
“They had suggested that the deer must be shifted to Thenni or some other place. It was also mooted to shift the deer to the newly-opened zoo at Puthur. But the proposals still remain on papers,” the authorities said. Meanwhile, social activists have come up against the ‘apathetic attitude’ of the CHS authorities in protecting the animals. They blamed the CHS authorities of torturing the animals without informing the state government the graveness of the issue. “The authorities had tried to sell the deer to the public and advertisements were given in newspapers in this regard. Moreover, many deer were sterilized to control procreation. But, they had to withdraw both moves as we launched a protest. Now, we have decided to intensify our stir against the torture meted out to the animals by not proving enough space for live,” activists said.
Meanwhile, the CHS authorities said they have sent letters to state government in this regard, but to no avail. “We will try our level best to provide a better home for the deer,” they said.