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Shifting Fallow Deer to Karkhe ‘Wrong Move’

Shifting Fallow Deer to Karkhe ‘Wrong Move’
Shifting Fallow Deer to Karkhe ‘Wrong Move’

An environment researcher has said the decision to shift the Persian Fallow Deer from the protected Dena zone to Karkhe “is a wrong move.”

Bijan Farhang Darre Shouri said Karkhe is located in Khuzestan Province, and Dena is a part of the Zagros Mountain range, situated on the borders of Isfahan, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad and Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari provinces.

Karkhe was formerly a good habitat for the species, but at present “it is not suitable as it has inadequate water resources and vegetation, especially after the construction of the famous Karkhe Dam in the area; it is better to move the species to Arjan Plain in Fars Province,” he said, Mehr news agency reported.

  Suitable Habitat

He also pointed to the prevalence of Myiasis disease in Karkhe area, which has resulted in the death of many deer in recent years.

It is not necessary to choose vast areas for the habitat of the species. Habitats with land area of 1000 to 2000 hectares are also suitable, he said.

The Persian Fallow Deer is a rare ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. It is physically larger with bigger antlers and is nearly extinct today, inhabiting only a small habitat in Khuzestan, southern Iran, two rather small protected areas in Mazandaran (northern Iran) and an island in Lake Urumia in north-western Iran; and also in some parts of Iraq.

Financialtribune.com