Bali “X” Files
Social media recorded a small herd of deer wandering the main streets of Bali’s capital city of Denpasar on the night of Saturday, 26 June 2021.
As reported by detik.com, the group of deer, including two fawns, wandered down the ordinarily busy thoroughfare of Jalan Diponegoro in front of the Ramayana Department Store at around 11:00 pm. Fortunately for all concerned, the deer encountered almost no vehicular traffic on the roadways emptied due to the near COVID-19 lockdown in effect in Bali.
The few passing vehicles, mostly motorcycles, stopped to photograph the group of deer in an urban setting.
Further investigation revealed the deer were part of an eight-deer herd who have been years-long residents in the large garden surrounding the official residence of the District IX Udayana Military Commander, located a short distance away from Jalan Diponegoro. The deer’s ancestors (Axis axis) are from an original herd of six deer gifted from Nepal to the Bogor Palace in West Java in 1808. In Bogor, the deer prospered and eventually multiplying their number to 860.
Some decades ago, a small group of deer was transferred from Bogor to the Tampaksiring Presidential Palace in Bali. Once again, they multiplied, permitting a small herd of eight deer to be installed on the local military Commander’s spacious grounds.
Col. I Made Mardika, who heads the health department of the Udayana Command, told detik.com on Saturday, 10 July 2021: “That’s right. The deer originally came from the Bogor Palace for the Commander’s Residence. They have been here for a long time.”
Over the past years, wire fencing surrounding the Commander’s residence prevented the deer from leaving their garden home. However, recent renovations at the residence created an “escape path” for the deer, which they have used for their recent nighttime escapades.
The deer have been rounded up and returned to the gardens of the District IX-Udayana Military Command.
Mardika thanked the public for reporting the deers’ escape, assuring at the same time that the deer are very docile creatures and posed no threat to public safety.