The sale of deer at Dhaka Zoo has plummeted from 70 deer last year to only three this year due to the introduction of pricey possession certificates and renewal fees imposed by the Department of Forest, said zoo officials.

A zoo official on condition of anonymity said, "The deer selling scheme was a good source of our income. The possession certificate fee and the price [fixed for a pair of deerj made it very expensive and discouragingfor buyers."

Before the new policy was imposed, the zoo earned Tk 10.5 lakh last year from the sale of 70 deer.

Under the new policy, a buyer is required to obtain a possession certificate for a pair of deer at a cost of Tk 10,000 -

additional to the payment against a price tag of Tk 30,000 for the animals. Moreover, the owner will have to pay Tk 5,000 in renewal fees every year for the deer.

It has also been made mandatory for the owner to pay fees once a doe gives birth to any fawn.

"There was no possession certificate fee before and the sale declined after it was introduced in January this year," the official added.

As the spotted deer population was growing rapidly, the zoo the authorities in order to solve an acute accommodation problem came up with the idea of sale of the deer in 1986 with the permission of the Department of Forest.

Sale of any pregnant doe, which generally gives birth to one or two fawns at a time each

year, is prohibited and all sales are suspended from February through April during the reproductive season of deer.

"The idea was to find good foster homes for the deer. It kind of solved our problem too," said the official.

The number of deer and some carnivorous animals are increasing every year, but the budget allocation remains the same, he said adding that 154 deer are being housed there in three cages meant for only 50.

On an average, a deer eatsTk 38 worth of fodder everyday. Therefore, the present cost of feeding all the deer in the zoo each year isTk21,35,980.

Out of an annual budget of Tk 3.75 crore, Dhaka Zoo spendsTk 2.50 crore on animal fodderalone, said the official.

Though the expense of feeding herbivorous animals (ani-

mals that feed only or mainly on grass and other plants) is less than that of carnivorous animals (animals that eat other animals), the zoo now has to spend a significant amount of its budget just to feed the deer.

Another zoo official speculated, "The recent newspaper coverage on illegal possession of animals including deer, peacock and different types of birds by detained political leaders also scared some people (prospective buyers) away."

Established in 1974 on an area of about 186 acres, the zoo currently is home to 165 spe-ciesof animals totalling around 1,823. Out of those, 55 are mammals, 72 birds and 32 are fish. Different species of reptiles including snakes and crocodiles are also in its collection.