The overpopulation of the Persian fallow deer in the western Ilam Province has forced officials to transfer some to other provinces, IRNA quoted director general of provincial Department of Environment (DoE) Mazyar Soleyman-Nejad as saying.

�Ilam is unable to sustain the current population of the Persian fallow deer,� he said. According to the official, provincial DoE offices get to choose the number of deer they are willing to home.

�They also have final say over the gender of the deer.�

Most female deer are pregnant at the moment, which makes transportation risky since any kind of stress may harm the fawn, he said.

Fallow deer are herd animals. They don�t have territories, but have a home range over which they travel, foraging for food. Ranges will overlap those of other herds. As they grow in number, the overlapped areas spread too much; thus, their displacement is inevitable. Due to a severe decline in their population to near extinction, 6 deer were transferred to Ilam from Ashk Island in Lake Urmia in 2007. Ilam currently homes 42 Persian fallow deer spread over two sites, Manasht and Ghalarang. At the moment, there are 10 pregnant does which are expected to give birth in early may.

The restoration effort of the Persian fallow deer in Ilam is considered one of the most successful programs.

By Financial Tribune