CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu’s chief wildlife warden has ordered a probe into the deer deaths on the IIT-M campus and the Guindy children’s park.
Chennai wildlife warden E Prasanth has also written to IIT-M requesting it to reduce man-animal conflict. As per forest department records, six spotted deer, one blackbuck, one barking deer, one mongoose, a marsh crocodile, one rhesus macaque, two bonnet monkeys, one white peafowl and two munia birds died on the IIT-M campus in January this year.
While the postmortem reports are awaited, preliminary inquiries by the forest department revealed that only one spotted deer died of dog bite. The remaining animals died of disease, injuries and natural causes.
Prasanth said plastic ingestion, tuberculosis and injuries due to speeding vehicles were some of the causes of deer deaths. “That is why we have sent IIT-M a letter requesting it to ensure the wildlife is protected on the campus,” he said.
