The Manipur sangai’s new hope: a second population in a fenced sanctuary
Conservationists have established a second, fenced population of the brow-antlered deer — an insurance policy against extinction.
The sangai — the brow-antlered deer found only on the phumdi of Loktak Lake — has a second home: a fenced sanctuary where a small breeding population now grazes as an insurance policy against catastrophe.
The single wild population, fewer than 300 animals, has survived poaching, floods and habitat loss; the second population hedges those bets.
Conservationists are careful to call it what it is: a safety net, not a solution.