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SINGAPORE: Once thought to be nearly gone from Singapore, the sambar deer is making a quiet comeback, with its population surging from 15 to 120 in five years.<\/p>\n
The herd’s growth is raising new questions about how to manage a species that has no natural predators here and whose numbers show no signs of slowing.<\/p>\n
Most people in Singapore would likely not have encountered one before. The timid creatures \u2013 outsized only by the moose and the elk, making them the world’s third-largest deer \u2013 typically emerge from their forest habitats under the cover of darkness to graze, taking off at the first sign of alarm.<\/p>\n
The species was thought to be extinct here after World War II due to hunting and deforestation, and was not seen again until the 1970s in Mandai, said Dr Marcus Chua, research fellow at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum.<\/p>\n
In the late 1990s, the Nature Society estimated there were as few as three individuals here, before the National Parks Board (NParks) reported around 15 in 2021.<\/p>\n
Today, five main herds are spread across Mandai, Gali Batu, Chestnut Nature Park, Nee Soon Swamp Forest and the vicinity of Singapore Island Country Club, said Mr Jay Lim, founder of the Save Sambar Deer initiative.<\/p>\n
His team tracks them through camera traps, nightly observations and headcounts, profiling each deer through unique identifiers such as scars, antlers, coloration and body size.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur latest estimates suggest the population is approaching 120 individuals, with numbers continuing to grow,\u201d said Ms Emma Robertson Chia, the initiative’s head of outreach and education.<\/p>\n
NParks has similarly observed an increase in population density through camera trap monitoring, said Mr How Choon Beng, the agency’s group director for wildlife management.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n