Caucasian Red Deer will be reintroduced in Armenia soon

WWF Armenia under the patronage of RA Ministry of Nature Protection and with the support of WWF Germany, Orange Armenia, Transboundary Joint Secretariat (TJS) and Prometey Bank launches a project on reintroducing the #Caucasian #Red #Deer in Armenia with the main goal to set up a breeding group of the species in Dilijan National Park.

The project activities include preparation of a breeding center in Dilijan National Park, purchase and transportation of 4 #male and 11 #female deer to Armenia, training of the breeding center staff, keeping and #breeding of #animals with further release and monitoring in the nature.

“This is an unprecedented project for Armenia since there hasn’t been any disappeared #species reintroduced in Armenia so far, said Karen Manvelyan, the director of WWF Armenia

The project is funded by WWF Germany (25,600,000 AMD) and Orange Armenia (10,000,000 AMD).

The Caucasian Red Deer is one of the most endangered wildlife species in the South Caucasus. This species, once largely spread in the #forests of Northern, Eastern and Southern Armenia, was disappeared a few decades ago due to poaching and habitat destruction. Now it is considered as a species which accidently enters the territory of Armenia from neighbouring countries.

Currently the Caucasian Red Deer is included in the Red Book of Armenia as “Critically Endangered” according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) criteria. Major threats are poaching and habitat destruction.