The Manipur sangai’s new hope: a second population in a fenced sanctuary

The sangai — the brow-antlered deer found only on the phumdi of Loktak Lake — has a second home: a fenced sanctuary where a small breeding population now grazes as an insurance policy against catastrophe.

The single wild population, fewer than 300 animals, has survived poaching, floods and habitat loss; the second population hedges those bets.

Conservationists are careful to call it what it is: a safety net, not a solution.