No deer for Monas so far

BOGOR : The Jakarta governor's plan to place 10 deer from the Bogor presidential palace in West Java in the National Monument Park (Monas) in Jakarta will not materialize in the near future as the presidential secretariat has not yet approved the project.

"We haven't got the approval yet from the presidential secretariat on the relocation of the deer from Bogor palace to Monas," said Apandi, head of the Bogor Palace's equipment and maintenance subdivision, here on Thursday.

But, Hadi S. Alikodra, head of the laboratory of wildlife ecology of the forestry faculty from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) said that he already had the permit to move 10 deer -- eight female and two male -- to Jakarta's Monas park.

"Ten deer, eight female and two males will be brought to Jakarta on April 22," he said. According to Alikodra, IPB was asked to handle the project, to choose the right location and later to supervise the five-hectare area in Monas where the deer will be placed.

"We have planted special grass and built a pool for them," he said. The deer will be moved at night due to the cooler weather and to avoid traffic jams. The deer are aged between 10 and 15 years and have never bred.

Alikodra also said that most deer in the Bogor Palace were inbred, so they easily got distressed and experienced miscarriages, while some had also died. "Deer, in fact, are sensitive wild animals," he said.--JP