KULIM: Families, children and animal lovers now have another reason to stop at Kulim, Kedah, as they get to visit the latest attraction in town, a deer farm.
There, they get to touch, play with, feed and take selfies with the deer on the farm, the brainchild of Muhammad Zuliadi Mail, 43.
An army retiree, Muhammad Zuliadi from Kampung Dusun here, spent his entire pension and savings amounting to RM240,000 on the farm which has now become a new agro-tourism product here.
When he started the farm, Muhammad Zuliadi had intended to only sell stud deer and meat, but that changed as the farm has now become the focus of the local community as well as outsiders who want to interact with the deer.
Muhammad Zuliadi said his one-hectare farm started two years ago with 19 stud deer purchased from Kelantan, Kedah and Perak.
“In the beginning, the farm was intended only to sell stud deer and meat but I received many requests to open it to people to get close to the animals.
“So I decided to tame the deer using various techniques until they could interact with humans,” he told Bernama at his farm here recently.
Muhammad Zuliadi said the deer used to be wild but now they are approachable and visitors can pet, feed and take photos with them.
“The deer have been tamed, compared to those in other places where the animals may still be wild, even in the zoos and you don’t have the chance to interact with the deer like on my farm,” he said, adding that he also provided courses on taming deer.
Muhammad Zuliadi said the idea to start the deer farm came to him 10 years ago while he was still serving in the army.
“One day, while on an operations in the jungle, I saw a herd of deer and felt a sense of calmness, that was when I first became interested in breeding deer,” he said.
Later, he joined a course and training programme on ruminant farming at the Cermin Kiri Veterinary Training Centre in Dungun, Terengganu and visited deer farms in the country to gain more knowledge on the methods of deer farming.
Muhammad Zuliadi said the farm, located two kilometres from the town centre, now has 46 deer and can be visited every day from 8.30 am to 11 am, and from 5 pm to 7 pm.
“On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the farm is open for regular visits, while on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, it is open for group visits. This will prevent overcrowding and give all visitors the chance to interact with the deer.
“Ticket prices are also cheap, only RM2 for adults and RM1 for children, they can feed and play as much as they want to with the deer here,” he added.
Members of the public who want more information on the deer farm can contact Muhammad Zuliadi at 013-2249173. – Bernama
