Watch: Sambar Deer That Wandered Into A House In Madhya Pradesh Rescued By Forest Officials

As human populations grow and animal habitats are lost, human-wildlife conflicts are becoming more frequent and widespread. In one such recent incident, a Sambar deer was spotted inside a residence in Katni in Madhya Pradesh and was rescued by forest department officers. 

Indian Forest Service officer Gaurav Sharma shared a picture of the sambar deer casually standing inside the living room of a house. He captioned the picture as ''This Sambar became famous today. Around 1000 people witnessed its rescue from a house by RO Vivek Jain and his team in Vijayraogarh, Katni.'' 

Take a look:

This Sambar became famous today. Around 1000 people witnessed it's rescue from a house by RO Vivek Jain and his team in Vijayraogarh, Katni [1/2] pic.twitter.com/v5z5ZMdimb

— Gaurav Sharma, IFS (@GauravS_IFS) January 21, 2023

In subsequent tweets, he shared two more videos of the deer being rescued. In the first clip, a group of men are seen capturing the deer inside a net to take it out of the home. The second video shows a crowd of curious onlookers gathered outside the residence to watch the rescue operation. 

Watch the videos here:

Rescue videos [2/2] pic.twitter.com/7lDpDauILz

— Gaurav Sharma, IFS (@GauravS_IFS) January 21, 2023

This post shared on January 21 has been viewed more than 21,000 times and has received more than 200 likes. One user wrote, ''I think it has come in search of the area where its ancestors lived."  

A second user questioned the method employed to rescue the deer which is generally considered docile. He commented, ''Was there a need for so much drama for a docile animal like the Sambar? Could a forest official not just have attracted it with some eats and led it to a truck for relocation? I have come across multiple deer in IIT/M and I have never seen even one being aggressive.'' 

In a similar instance of a wild animal wandering close to humans, a Sambar deer was spotted approaching a local eatery in Kerala. The clip shared by Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Dr Samrat Gowda, showed a Sambar deer standing in front of a makeshift tea stall and looking at the food items there. An elderly man finally offered the animal some food. 

The sambar is a large deer native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List since 2008.