April 03, 2023, 02:32 AM
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It was two people's lucky day in Singapore on Sunday, April 2.
A man and his young daughter were driving in an area flanked by vegetation when a sambar deer decided to cross the road right in front of them.
The deer appeared to be in a hurry as it spotted the approaching vehicle while on the grass verge and galloped into the bushes across the road to go into hiding.
The father could be heard exclaiming: "No, no, no, it's a deer. Oh my gosh. Oooh. I told you right."
In response to a commenter's query, the man said the incident took place at Chestnut Park at about 3:30pm.He also quipped in a another reply that his daughter asked him why his reaction was so exaggerated when he could see a deer in the zoo as well.
Background
Most sightings of sambar deer in Singapore have occurred at night.
The shy creatures were believed to have been wiped out in Singapore by 1950.
The Nature Society (Singapore) estimated in 1997 that there were three deer in the wild.
In 2021, the National Parks Board put the number at around 15.
The animal is currently listed as a vulnerable species.
But a new Feb. 16 study has suggested that they are making a comeback here, according to The Straits Times.
Several sambar deer escaped from the Singapore Zoo and private local zoos in the 1970s.
The study in the journal Conservation Science and Practice said the population of sambar deer are increasing in various forested areas, such as the Central Catchment Nature Reserve near MacRitchie and Bukit Timah.
The latest finding is derived from data including those from motion-activated cameras between 2009 and 2020.
The population in Mandai dropped sharply after 2016, ST reported.
Some 64ha of land was cleared to develop an eco-tourism hub over a period of three years.
The hub will house the relocated Bird Park and a new Rainforest Park.
Increased sightings in MacRitchie and Bukit Timah suggested that sambar deer had moved to these areas, the report added.
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