KOCHI: The Centre for Heritage Studies (CHS) which maintains the Deer Park at the Hill Palace in Tripunithura has decided to build a temporary shelter inside the park to ensure protection for the deer from extreme climatic conditions. As many as 11 deer at the park had died after the onset of monsoon due to lung infection and other health problems within the past one month.
“The drainage from the old building inside the park where the deer are provided feed and water flows to the right side of the enclosure,” said CHS registrar E Dinesh.“This area turned muddy after the onset of monsoon. The left side of the enclosure is clean and the Chief Veterinary Officer has suggested the herd be moved there. We are planning to construct a temporary shelter in this area. The proposal has to be approved by the director general of CHS. We have to get consent from the Archaeology Department too as the Hill Palace is a protected monument.”
Meanwhile, the Forest Department has drawn up a plan to move the deer in batches to an enclosure near Kaprikkad under Malayattoor division. As habituated animals are unlikely to survive in the wild, the department is planning to keep them in an enclosure on the forest fringes to get them accustomed to living and finding food in the forest. The plan has to be approved by the government and a decision in this regard can be expected within a month, said an officer.