Swamp deer at the Jaldapara enclosure. Picture by Anirban Choudhury

Alipurduar, Sept. 19: Tourists visiting Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary during the coming Durga Puja are likely to be greeted by three new members of the swamp deer family.

The three fawns were born in captivity last week taking the total number of swamp deer to a dozen.

“Three deer were born in Jaldapara last week and they are in good health,” said N.C. Bohuguna, the principal chief conservator of forest, West Bengal.

According to the forest department records, swamp deer were last seen in the natural habitat in and around Jaldapara in 1954.

The animals frequently fell prey to poachers and in 1998, a captive-breeding programme was launched in Jaldapara.

That year, two male and four female deer along with a fawn were brought to the forest from Lucknow Zoo as part of the project.

The animals were kept in a one-hectare enclosure.

Although six fawns were born in captivity between 2000 and 2006, most of them died of snakebites.

In 2004, five swamp deer escaped the enclosure. Four animals were brought back the same day but a male deer could not be traced.

One of the fawns born last week. (Anirban Choudhury)

After two years, the animal was rescued from Moiradanga beat, almost 7km from the enclosure, on April 22, 2006.

By then, most of the deer brought from Lucknow had died and four females and a male born in captivity were alive.

In 2008, a new enclosure with a waterbody was built and the animals were shifted there.

Foresters had said once the number of deer reaches 10, they would think about releasing the animals in the wild.

“Now that the number has gone up to 12, we will hold discussions with wildlife experts and one adult male and one female might be released into the wild. I think our captive breeding programme has been successful. We will see if the animals can survive in the forest,” Bohuguna said.