Feidong surprised the sika deer

On May 31, Zheng Congrong, director of the Longqi Bird Park in Anhui Province, rescued a sika deer from the Changle community in Puzhen Town, Feidong County. This is not the first time that sika deer have been found in the territory of Puzhen, dating back to 2018, and it is rumored that 27 sika deer have appeared here. However, whether this group of sika deer is native to the wild or breeding to escape, there are currently different theories.

Judging the source of this group of sika deer is of great guiding significance for the local protection of sika deer. The reporter learned from authoritative sources that this week Anhui University will conduct genetic sequencing of the fecal sample of this sika deer to solve the mystery.

The juvenile sika deer fell into the pond and was rescued

On the morning of May 31, Pod Xiangyu went to his shrimp pond as usual to pick up shrimp, and suddenly, he found that there was a sika deer in the pond that was fluttering, this deer was not large, it looked like it had just been born, and Pod Xiangyu quickly went into the water to catch it.

This is not the first time that Pod Xiangyu has found sika deer, and nearby farmers know that there is a herd of "trouble-making" sika deer here. Pod Xiangyu also deeply felt that the fence next to the shrimp pond was always inexplicably rotten, he installed monitoring for the shrimp pond, only to find that the culprit was the sika deer.

"Looking at the deer is not big, you sell it." Someone gave Pod Xiangyu an idea, and he refused. "If this is wild, it is a protected animal at the national level, and it is illegal to buy and sell." Neither selling nor raising, he called Director Wang of the Changle community and asked him what to do with it. The community helped him contact the Feidong County Forestry Bureau, and then Zheng Rongrong, who was in charge of animal rescue, also arrived at the scene.

"We have a lot of sika deer, and the villagers are not surprised." Director Wang of the community told reporters that over the years, several sika deer have been found around the Changle community, sometimes the footprints and excrement of the sika deer, and sometimes before they can see clearly, the sika deer has disappeared with an arrow. The villagers also love and hate them, because these guys look cute, and if they are not careful, the crops in the field will suffer.

There are different accounts of the origin of the sika deer

When he received a call from the Feidong County Forestry Bureau, Zheng Rongrong was half-convinced. It is reasonable to say that Feidong is not the distribution area of wild sika deer, and in addition, over the years, there have been many oolongs in the Feidong area that mistake roe deer for sika deer.

"Although the juvenile sika deer and the young roe deer have different sizes, they look similar, which is not easy for the villagers to distinguish." Driving nearly an hour to the Changle community, Zheng Calmly examined it carefully and finally concluded that it was indeed a sika deer.

Zheng Calmrong said that this is a sika deer that was born not long ago, and the umbilical cord has just fallen off. Generally speaking, sika deer can stand and hobble half an hour after birth. At this time, the doe will often lick the fawn clean, hide it in the haystack, and go out to forage for food, and then come back to feed the fawn. He speculated that it may have been the dog at the shrimp pond that spotted the sika deer, and during the chase, the deer fell into the pond.

Although it is confirmed to be a sika deer, it is not easy for Zheng Rongrong to judge whether this sika deer is wild or domestically bred. Zheng Congrong told reporters that if this sika deer is wild, it belongs to the national first-level protected animal. If it is not wild, it may be the offspring of nearby domestically bred wild sika deer, which in turn belong to domestic animals. Therefore, judging the source of this group of sika deer has important reference value for the protection of sika deer.

"We inquired locally and heard from the villagers that there used to be a car transporting sika deer here, maybe a few of them fell on the car and multiplied here, but the specific needs further investigation."

This week will go to the field for sampling and sequencing

The reporter fed back the news of the discovery of sika deer in Feidong County to Yu Lei, director of the Hefei Wildlife Conservation Association, who told reporters that he had heard the news and would follow the research team of Anhui University to Longqi Bird Park this week to collect samples of sika deer in Longqi Hundred Birds Park and perform genetic sequencing to determine the source of this group of sika deer.

"In fact, we found sika deer here as early as three years ago." Yu Lei told reporters that in 2018, affected by heavy snow, the food of sika deer was sharply reduced, and they came to the village near changle community in Feidong County to forage for food, and ate many vegetables in farmers' fields. The villagers didn't know what to do, so they contacted the media to help solve the problem. On that day, Yu Lei followed the footprints and feces of the deer with the media and saw a total of 7 sika deer.

Yu Lei said that the history around Hefei has never recorded sika deer, this group of sika deer must have only a few individuals when they first settled here, because the nearby environment is suitable for the survival of sika deer, the villagers have a strong sense of protection, so the population continues to grow.

There are currently two theories about the original origin of this herd of sika deer. One said it came from a nearby farm, but it was not confirmed by the farm. Another claim is that it fell off a transport vehicle, but there is no evidence for this claim and it is difficult to verify.

"This time, we just want to find out completely whether this herd of sika deer is breeding and escaping or local wild." Yu Lei said. As of press time, the reporter learned that the rescued sika deer has been properly placed in longqi bird park in Anhui Province, and the research team of Anhui University will go to the park for sampling.

Hefei newspaper all-media reporter Wei Xiaomin text/photo

(Hefei Evening News)