Click to play videoSrinagar: An injured musk deer in the hills of Pir Panjal in Jammu and Kashmir was rescued by forest officials in August this year. And this Diwali, the deer got a new lease of life after she was able to walk again with an artificial limb.
The deer’s special gift was made by 20-year-old Mohammad Aslam, who himself had lost both his legs in a mine blast in Poonch.
A Member of Pritam Spiritual Trust, Aslam made an artificial limb for the shy deer, whose left hind leg was chopped off by poachers.
“I have made artificial limbs for over 200 people and when my employers asked me to make a limb for an animal I thought it was a great opportunity,” Aslam said.
After the initial treatment, the Pritam Spiritual Foundation in Poonch, which manufactures prosthetic limbs for blast victims, decided to pitch in. There were three unsuccessful transplant attempts, but finally the deer took its first few cautious steps.
“We used extra raw material and scarp to fabricate this limb and it was very satisfying to see the female deer walk again,” Member of Pritam Spiritual Trust, Pritam Singh said.
While Divisional Forest Officer of Poonch, BM Sharma, said, “The animal is very elusive. It is recovering, but we will have to shift it to the zoo when it recovers completely.”
Though, the experiment has been initially successful, the deer will be kept under observation for the next few months.
However, this incident has made the Forest Department worried about the rise in musk deer poaching in the hills. Earlier this year, four deer were found dead in this region.
(With inputs from Darshan Bharti in Poonch)
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