It had been 28 years since Kenting National Park Headquarters implemented the restoration of sika deer, and nearly 2,000 had been bred in the wild.
Visiting Sika deer which was extremely cute had become a quite trendy trip; because of the high vigilance of wild sika deer, they were not easy to be seen at close distance.
Howard Beach Resort Kenting purchased 8 sika deer to set up garden of sika deer five years ago, among of which there was a pregnant doe giving birth during the day last week, and the tenant who gained direct sight on the birth process shouted. “Amazing, it is the most beautiful encounter in the trip to Kenting!”
Kenting National Park had success in reviving sika deer, but they were highly alert to humans, and to allow tenants to observe the ecology of sika deer at close range, Howard Beach Resort Kenting set up garden of sika deer in the park, Jiguang Zhang (張積光) as the general manager of Howard Beach Resort Kenting said, adding that the deer had been raised by human since they were young, being accustomed to the environment of people, they were loved by children and adults.
Zhang (張) further added that the production process of the doe at this time was smooth; delivery time of the doe usually took half an hour to two hours, and this time the doe delivered the baby deer in less than one hour, with both the mother and baby were healthy, and the tenant who gained direct sight on the birth process claimed of great luck.
To praise the staff who took initiative to take care and accompany the birth of young deer, the name of the young deer was specially named according to the name of staff as “Wen-wen”, he said, adding that sika deer was not wild animal of conservation, legally, it was a livestock, and the hotel carefully maintained the living environment of sika deer, by regularly hiring veterinarians for health management and vaccination of sika deer as maintenance of their health was the priority of the park.
He further added that welcoming the birth of the young deer together with the tenant was also a reflection of the original intention of setting up of the garden of deer, and the birth process was even a rare opportunity to observe.
Sika deer was distributed throughout the plains and foothills at the western part of Taiwan few hundred years ago, and they became extinct in the wild in 1969 due to overhunting and man-made exploitation.
In 1984, the Kenting National Park Headquarters was ordered to start the restoration program of sika deer; the release of 10 deer to the wild in Sheding began from 1994 till 2009, and the research team of National Pingtung University of Science and Technology estimated that about 1500 deer were bred to date.
The population and number grew steadily. Because sika deer were mostly artificially restored and they were regarded as livestock by the Council of Agriculture, the Wildlife Conservation Act was not applicable.
Apart from the setting up of garden of sika deer by Howard Beach Resort Kenting, more than 30 sika deer were raised at ecological park of sika deer “Paradise of Deer” in Hengchun Town, for tourists to visit and feed.