Tamil Nadu Farmer Builds A deer Story On His 45 Acres
Update: 2021-09-19 18:37 IST
Gurusamy has helped triple the numbers of deer. (Photo | EPS)
R Gurusamy, a 70-year-old resident of Pudupalayam in Avinashi, has been letting the spotted deer graze on 45 acres of his land in the hamlet for over 20 years. According to unofficial estimates, this has helped the area's deer population grow from 400 to over 1,200.
He always love animals, being a farmer and a nature enthusiast. As part of our ancestral property, he received this plot of land beside the Khousikha River. He discovered a few of spotted deer strolling along the riverbanks one day while farming here in 1996. Later, the deer joined his cattle and started grazing on his pasture. They eventually started hanging out with his goats and cows.
As the deer were a rare sighting in our community, he began permitting them to stay on his pasture. Because they ate largely grass, which is available all year, the pasture gradually became their habitat. Moreover, the deep thickets on his farm protected them from rain and sun, Gurusamy explained. The deer are thought to have come from Coimbatore and followed the dried-up riverbed.
When water became limited due to drought, Gurusamy excavated trenches and filled them with water. Because they had no natural predators to hunt them, the creatures multiplied in abundance and began to invade surrounding farmland.
His friend, C Balasundaram and another farmer who owned several acres of coconut groves supported my case and didn't mind the animals passing through their property.
Furthermore the increased deer population attracted one predator: poachers. We arrested two poaching teams and handed them over to police in 2008 and 2010 with the cooperation of Balasundaram and a few villagers, Gurusamy stated. His field resembles a forest, like the Bandipur National Park, Nature Society of Tiruppur (NST) President K Ravindran told The New Indian Express about Gurusamy's deer haunt. Spotted deer thrive in this climate. He estimate that there are approximately 800 spotted deer in Pudupalayam village alone. Gurusamy and other farmers deserve credit, he said.
However, not everyone shares Gurusamy's fondness for deer. Many farmers in the area claim that the expanding deer population has thrown the ecosystem into disarray and put their crops at risk. A few residents have even petitioned the local government to have the animals removed from the community. I have no objections to the deer being relocated from his acreage. However, he stated that they must be moved safely to a forest.
Meanwhile, when approached, K Ganeshram, Assistant Conservator of Forest (Tiruppur), said, they are aware of the increasing number of spotted deer in Pudupalayam and the surrounding areas. It's a problem for farmers and the forest service, but moving these animals to a dense forest is difficult. Nonetheless, we have proposed to the State government that an expert committee be formed to investigate and resolve this matter.