Lahore's Jallo Park houses Indian swamp deer

Lahore, Jan 23 (UNI) An Indian swamp deer has been added to a herd of four others at the Jallo Wildlife Park in Lahore.

The deer was caught by the Rangers at the border area near Shakargarh yesterday. It is the fifth deer to enter into Pakistan from India in three years. These deer were caught from bordering areas near Ganda Singhwala, Narowal, Kanganpur and Sharaqpur, Dawn newspaper reported.

Punjab Wildlife Department (PWD) director general Imtiaz Tajwar thanked Rangers' Director General Hussain Mehdi for handing over the deer to the department.

PWD officials said such deers, costing around Rs two million each, were found in the riparian area between Bias and Ravi rivers in India. The horns of a swamp deer are considered precious.

Wildlife assistant director Anwar Maan said the department would breed the deer and supply them to other zoos and parks in the country.

The Wildlife department has also filed a case against Ganda Singhwala and its inhabitants who had caught and slaughtered one such swamp deer some time ago.

Mr Maan said the Jallo Park also housed a variety of birds, including pheasants and peafowl. He said the breeding of birds had touched a record 1,800, in the last two decades.

A pair of giraffes would also be housed at Jallo Park while three more giraffes would be bought from Africa. He said one giraffe would be given to the Lahore Zoo as there had been no giraffe there for the last decade.

UNI