More than 1,000 golden deer conserved in Kanbalu Chatthin wildlife sanctuary

The wildlife sanctuary staff are patrolling and conserving over 1,000 golden deer from Chatthin wildlife sanctuary in Kanbalu district, Sagaing region, said U Win Naing, the warden of Chatthin Wildlife Sanctuary.
“There are about 1,006 golden deer in Chatthin wildlife sanctuary. We took the golden deer census in April, 2021. The deer census is annually collected in March and April. The number of deer population has increased this year than last year,” he added.
Chatthin wildlife sanctuary was established in 1941 to conserve and protect the dry forest ecosystem and related biological species and to preserve one of the worlds’ endangered golden deer, found only in Myanmar. It has also been steadily protected since 1986.
“There were 1,042 golden deer left in 2020. The deer are conserved by patrolling with 17 staff,” U Win Naing clarified.
The Myanmar golden deer, habited in Chatthin wildlife sanctuary are also locally named as golden deer, Brow-antlered deer, Thamin Wah.
There were over 800 golden deer in 2018. The deer consume a variety of fruits such as myrobalan, meronym and grass.
The staff are providing awareness to the residents near the wildlife sanctuary. Then, they are collecting the annual deer census.
Apart from the golden deer housed in the sanctuary, 111 tree species, 13 other mammal species and 241 bird species are identified and protected.
The Chatthin wildlife sanctuary has a total area of over 66,000 acres. There were 1,501 golden deer in 2012, 1,126 in 2013, 671 in 2004, 506 in 2015, 480 in 2016, 728 in 2017, 889 in 2018 and 1409 as of April 2019. — Lu Lay/GNLM