Elusive sambar caught in print

By Jade Lawton
MIKE Harrison has spent decades researching the life and habits of the mysterious sambar deer.
His Tonimbuk property backs on to the Bunyip State Park and has an enclosure containing about 10 animals, which Mr Harrison has observed daily for the last 24 years.
His efforts have recently been published in a book – Sambar, the Magnificent Deer – which explores the life and history of an animal that most people know little about.
“They are probably regarded as the world’s number one deer as a hunting challenge, but very little is known about them, even in their native countries,” he said.
“Some of the data recorded in this book is new. For instance the gestation period for the females is much longer than was originally thought. People used to think it was something in the order of eight months, but in actual fact it is around 262 days.
“I observed the deer when I was feeding them during the winter time, and recorded all the dates when stags cast their antlers and when they rubbed the velvet off their freshly grown antlers, that kind of thing.”
The book also contains a history of the sambar, which was imported from Sri Lanka in 1865. Eighteen animals were released in Harewood and have extended through the Kooweerup swamp, in to the Bunyip State Park and right through to NSW.
The deer don’t live in a herd but a female, in the wild, will have a ‘home range’ that they spend their lives within. A dominant stag will have a wider territory taking in a number of females.
Mr Harrison, a life member of the Australian Deer Association, is also a decorated hunter. He took the top trophy for Australia’s largest sambar one year, but says his hunting days are largely behind him.
“That (trophy) doesn’t rank very high on my list. It was more a credit to the deer than to me,” he said.
He endeavours to use every part of the beast and says the Sambar deer tastes a bit like beef.
“Sambar are the most fascinating creature -you don’t waste an animal like that,” he said.
“If we dished up roast sambar to you and didn’t tell you what it was you would probably think it was beef, but you would ask about it because there is no fat on it. It’s very lean.”
Mr Harrison’s book was launched at Tonimbuk Hall on 24 October. More than 100 guests attended, including one fan who travelled from Sydney to get a signed copy. The book will be of interest to both hunters, environmentalists, biologists and anyone with an interest in the Australian bush.
To order the book, visit www.adrfbooks.com.au