NEW DELHI, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- At least a dozen deer were killed after jumping from a bridge in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, police said Sunday.
The incident took place Saturday evening on the Solapur-Mandrup bypass road in Solapur district, about 400 km east of Mumbai, the capital city of Maharashtra.
According to officials, the herd had lost its way and found itself stuck on the road. To prevent itself from being hit by speedy vehicles, the herd jumped from the bridge, according to the police.
"Last evening, 12 deer were killed after they jumped from the bridge," a senior police official Uday Singh Patil told media. "The carcasses were removed from the road by police personnel."
Forest department officials were also informed about the incident, who rushed to the spot and took one of the injured blackbuck immediately to a veterinary hospital for treatment.
Wildlife experts say mass urbanization, denudation of forests, encroachment of forestland, the vanishing of buffer zones in the forests, etc. are some of the reasons that push wild animals into residential areas.
The move often proves fatal for these creatures, they said. ■