KARWAR: Forest Department officials sent off a guest from the woods which had entered the human habitat.
Ramu, an injured eight-month-old male sambhar deer, which was taken care of till its fractured leg healed, was released into the Kove forest on Tuesday evening.
The young Ramu has been in the care of the staff of the Forest Department since September 20. The animal had sustained fracture in its left leg while crossing NH-17 at Amadalli in the taluk. The local residents had taken him to the forest office.
RCF Manjunath Navi told Express that as the injuries were of serious nature, it was decided that the animal be rushed to a veterinary hospital in Shivamogga for surgery. “As the sambhar deer was very young, taking it to Shivamogga, which is quite far from Karwar, would have been dangerous to its life,” he said.
“Hence, we had taken the deer to a person who administers herbal medicine. As it needed good care, Balagouda, a watchman of the department, was told to take care of the deer in his home. Balagouda and his family took good care of the animal and it has recovered completely,” he said.
Though Ramu was released into the Toduru forest on Tuesday morning, it returned to Balagouda’s house as it became attached to the family. However, Ramu was sent off with a heavy heart in the evening. He was released into Kove forest later, the RCF added.