Help Care for Rescued Animals in Cambodia

A small herd of sambar deer made up of a male and two females were released into the Cardamom Rainforest. Each of the three deer came to the Wildlife Release Station (WRS) from different backgrounds but were rehabilitated and released together. The male was found as a fawn with a broken leg in the Phnom Tamao forest after a village dog attacked him and separated him from his mother. He was raised in Phnom Tamao’s nursery before coming to the Station, accompanied by a female born at Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center as part of a captive-breeding program for sambar deer. A second female was later confiscated by the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team (WRRT) from a patrol station in Pursat province. The three were given time in an enclosure at the release station to acclimatize to the new environment and each other. They were fitted with trackers, secured on ear tags for cattle with glue and wire, as collars carry associate risks for animals moving through dense foliage.

In the first few days after their release, our staff provided supplementary food, however, the sambar were much more interested in the wild leaves and grasses around the forest than the grass we provided. The trio stayed close to the camp for a few days but have slowly ventured deeper into the jungle and to new grassland clearings.

The staff at the WRS will monitor the deer’s progress in the forest by tracking the herd every day to ensure that they are adapting to their new life in the wild. We are hopeful this will be the start of many future sambar releases to help re-establish a prey base in the surrounding forest, enabling us to someday return large carnivores to the Cardamom Rainforest Landscape.

Thank you for helping us care for and release thousands of animals like these sambar. Your doation gives animals a second chance at a life in the wild. 

This Critically Endangered Sunda Pangolin was rescued by a concerned Cambodian who found the pangolin for sale in a market and brought him to Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center. The male was transported to Wildlife Alliance’s Wildlife Release Station where the habitat is more suitable for pangolins and to participate in our Sunda pangolin captive breeding and release program.

Because Sunda pangolins populations are so low and they are under persistent threat from poaching, captive breeding programs are necessary to save the species from extinction. This male fathered two cubs with our resident female pangolin, Lucy, who lost two feet after being caught in a snare.

After fathering the two cubs that were subsequently released, the male pangolin became a bit too over-amorous, found in the evenings riding on Lucy’s tail and costing her extra energy to drag him around the enclosure.

They were then separated and it was decided the male would be returned to the wild as Lucy was no longer interested in his attentions. The male was released in March, the keepers opened his enclosure door and left his meal, a plate of red ants, outside. We continue to provide a plate of red ants every night which we find is consumed every morning. Usually released pangolins do not eat the supplementary food we give them but prefer the fresher ants and termites they can find in the wild. Perhaps they are being consumed by the surrounding wildlife, or our male is staying around the enclosure if he is still interested in Lucy and is taking advantage of the meal provided for him!

A new male, weighing 10kg, was rescued in Phnom Penh after he was reported to have escaped traders possibly transporting him to a restaurant. He was brought to an enclosure beside Lucy, so that the two could become familiar with each other before opening the door separating the two enclosures. The male, however, had other ideas and tore a hole in the wall of the enclosure in order to get closer to Lucy. The two are now found sleeping together each night in the logs and termite mounds provided! We hope that they parent more pangolin cubs for release in the future!

We have started a microproject, 'Radio collars for released wildlife in Cambodia' to buy tracking equipment so that we can monitor wildlife after we release them into the wild. We have already raised over half our goal but need your help to buy 10 new collars. Your donation could fund a tracker for this new pangolin couple's pup when it is released to ensure he/she transitions safely to a life in the wild!