No deer for Monas so far

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