Mandla:
Mangal Dehriya , a resident of Nainpur in Mandla district near Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh, has illegally kept a swamp deer in his house.
Barah Singh, or the swamp deer, is an endangered species.This variety is exclusive to the Kanha National Park and is not found anywhere else in the country.There are only three hundred of them left in the park.
In complete violation of the Wild Life Act, the deer called
Dinddo has been with the family for the last four years.
"I had found him in the jungle and got him home. The people wanted to kill the deer but I told them that I will keep it. They also warned me of action by police and the forest department but still I went ahead and kept the deer at home," says Mangal Dehriya.
It's surprising that while the entire village knows about Dehriya's unique pet, the forest department does not even have a whiff of it.
Despite repeated attempts, the forest officials were not available for any comment.