A research milestone
Yen Shih-ching, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Animal Science and Technology at National Taiwan University, recalls his first experience capturing a sambar. Lugging two nets, each weighing nearly 20 kilograms, the research team, with two Aboriginal hunters as guides, climbed into the mountains. On the first day it rained, and carrying the wet gear alone was exhausting. After two days of hiking, they reached the western peak of Mt. Panshi and set up camp in a spot called “Exclamation Pond,” a small valley-shaped depression that resembles an exclamation mark when the water level is low. After setting the nets, all the men in the party had to urinate on them, because human urine attracts the sambar.
During the day they practiced strategies to drive a sambar into the nets, if one should appear nearby. The tent was about 20 meters from the nets, and when all was ready, the team waited for a sambar to walk into their trap. Suddenly they heard a noise outside. “Quick! Get the tranquilizers ready.”
Yen and another researcher charged from opposite directions. Shouting and turning on lamps, they made the animal turn and bolt directly into the nets.
Once the net closed around the sambar, the other team members held down the netting, then the vet quickly tranquilized it. After about ten minutes, the tranquilizer took effect, and they could finally open the net. At that point, some of the stronger members of the team rushed forward. One bound the hind legs, another bound the front legs, and yet another secured the head. Tennis balls were used to cover the antler tips to avoid injuries. Next the sambar was weighed, and the vet drew blood, collected samples of body parasites, measured the deer’s height, length, and neck circumference, and fitted the animal with a transmitter collar. When the team was finished, the vet injected the animal again to revive it, and it was released back into the wild. It was July 15, 2009, when Wang and Yen led the first research team to successfully capture a sambar and fit a tracker on it. It can be counted as a milestone in the quest to track and study the Formosan sambar.
Each deer has its own personality. Mature bucks are generally the boldest. The picture shows a particularly inquisitive sambar—named “Nosy” by the researchers—gazing unafraid at the equally curious onlookers.