Six deer escape from Night Safari

Lip Kwok Wai/Satish Cheney Channel NewsAsia 28 Jul 10;

SINGAPORE: Six deer escaped from the Night Safari at the Singapore Zoological Gardens on Wednesday morning.

Five have been found but one is still missing, although it is believed to be within the Night Safari park.

The fifth deer was caught in the evening at Mandai Lake Road. It had to be sedated. It took about one and a half hours to bring the deer back to its enclosure.

The Sambar deer are all female and were found missing during a routine check by a zookeeper.

One of them had managed to get out of the Night Safari's perimeter fence. A tree had fallen on the fence, allowing the deer to walk out of the park's boundaries.

Kumar Pillai, director of zoology at Wildlife Reserves Singapore, said: "(At) the Deer Park, we've got the primary enclosure and if for some reason the animals do come out of there, we have a secondary fence to keep the animals in. But it's the secondary fence that got damaged by the fallen tree and they got out of the park."

It is the first time the deer have escaped from their enclosure.

In a separate incident, the Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) rescued three wild Sambar deer in Mandai.

Army personnel had informed WRS that deer were seen at the range. When the WRS team arrived at the scene, they found three Sambar deer cornered in the perimeter fence of the range.

One animal was found dead on the scene with neck injuries and the remaining two animals were greatly stressed and weak.

WRS vets sedated and ascertained the conditions of the dangerously weakened animals and quickly brought them back to the WRS, which is a designated rescued wildlife centre.

Unfortunately, WRS vets were only able to save one of the deer. It is currently recovering under their care.

- CNA/ir

Runaway deer, first for Night Safari
Ng Jing Yng Today Online 29 Jul 10;

SINGAPORE - Six female deer broke out from their enclosure at the Night Safari yesterday morning. One of them even managed to make its way out of the park through a break in the perimeter fencing before it was caught in the evening.

Until late last night, the last of the six deer had not been captured and is believed to be in the vicinity of the park.

But the public need not be alarmed. Sambar deer are herbivorous and tame, said Night Safari's director of zoology Kumar Pillai.

The other five were rounded up at various times throughout the day, with the last deer being caught in the evening along the roadside about half a kilometre away from the entrance of the Night Safari. The startled animal - halted in its tracks by a tranquiliser dart - was lifted by at least six staff onto a pick-up truck and taken back to the park (inset).

It was the first time deer had escaped from their enclosure and investigations are in progress, said Mr Pillai. The break in the perimeter fencing was caused by a fallen tree.

Artist Mark Kaufmann, 47, who was sculpting at the nearby Mandai Orchid Garden, was startled to see a deer poking around the flowers at about 4pm yesterday.

"I was like 'wow'," he said, adding he whipped out his mobile phone and took a picture of it. He alerted the zoo and the animal was captured.

In a separate incident, three wild sambar deer were rounded up in Mandai after they were spotted at an army range. One animal was found dead with neck injuries and the other two were greatly stressed and weak. One of them subsequently died while the other is recovering at the zoo. NG JING YNG

Deer on the loose at Night Safari
Ted Chen Straits Times 29 Jul 10;

SIX sambar deer disappeared from their Night Safari enclosure yesterday morning, sparking a big search involving about 20 zoologists and vets from the Night Safari and Singapore Zoo.

As at press-time last night, five had been found and returned to their enclosure, while one was still on the loose within the park's boundaries.

'This is the first time these deer have escaped from their enclosure,' said the Night Safari's director of zoology Kumar Pillai.

Despite the lone deer running free, Safari operations went on as normal. Visitors were not notified of the solo, wandering deer, said a spokesman.

Night Safari workers realised the six deer were missing from their enclosure at about 10am yesterday, when they noticed that a tree, about two to three stories tall, had fallen on the enclosure's fences. They then found out that the deer were missing.

One of the deer recaptured had actually crossed out of the park's boundaries. It was picked up along Mandai Lake Road at about 7pm, less than 1km away from the park's boundaries.

The other four were recaptured within two hours of their disappearance within the Safari's grounds.

Although the deer were roaming freely, Safari workers were not worried that they would be attacked by meat-eating animals.

'These dangerous animals are separated by a moat,' said Night Safari spokesman Lin Liangmin. 'It would not be easy to walk into their enclosure.'

In an unrelated incident, the Wildlife Reserves Singapore Group, which operates the Night Safari, found three wild sambar deer in Mandai yesterday morning.

One had neck injuries and was found dead, while a second one died shortly after being rescued.

Last of six missing deer spotted; temporary fence built
Alvina Soh, Ng Jing Yng Channel NewsAsia 29 Jul 10;

SINGAPORE : Park officials think they will soon be able to capture the deer that is still missing after it escaped from its enclosure at the Night Safari, along with five other deer on Wednesday.

They spotted it on Wednesday night in the park's compound.

The other five deer were caught that day after they escaped in the morning.

Meanwhile, a temporary fence has been put up.

The deer enclosure has also been checked and secured.

A fence was damaged after a tree fell on it, allowing the deer to roam free.

Wildlife Reserves Singapore said it is working to ensure that the trees within the compound and along the perimeter of the park are in good condition.

- CNA/al