Yesterday morning a young barking deer (also known as a red muntjac deer) was rescued after it got stuck in a railing in Sai Kung.
At 6am, a passerby discovered the male deer trapped in the five-inch space in between railing bars near a pedestrian footbridge on Clear Water Bay Road, reports Apple Daily.
Firefighters arrived on the scene and placed a blanket over the deer’s head in order to calm him down and proceeded to saw the railing bars.
However, afraid that the deer may run onto the road if they freed it immediately, the firefighters waited until Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) staff arrived.
Once SPCA personnel were at the scene, they pulled the railings apart and coaxed the poor animal into a cage. The deer’s sides were severely bruised and raw from struggling to free himself.
The deer was first taken to the SPCA’s headquarters in Wan Chai then transported to the Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG), which currently has rescued and rehabilitated deer of the same species in its care. A KFBG vet said that they have treated the are continuing to monitor the condition of the deer.
According to the government, the red muntjac deer, along with the East Asian porcupine, is the most abundant and widespread of the medium to large native mammals of Hong Kong.
