Agriculture Ministry tender places deer on sale for domestication

AMMAN — Deer farming and domestication is now accessible for Jordanians, as the Ministry of Agriculture floated a tender for the public to buy deer mainly for the purpose of domestication, Lawrence Majali, the Ministry of Agriculture’s spokesperson, told The Jordan Times on Sunday.

The ministry’s tender is intended to sell a group of deer currently available at Dibeen natural reserve in Jerash Governorate, Majali said.

“This is an annual procedure the ministry undertakes to control the number of animals in their custody,” Majali added. 

Majali noted that the ministry floats tenders for many types of animals, such as bees, goats and deer.

“The ministry is not intending to make profits from selling the deer, as animals are bred at the ministry’s facilities and then sold to the public for the purpose of farming,” he explained.

Fayez Al Khawaldeh, Director of Jerash’s Agriculture Directorate, told The Jordan Times that the specific number of deer, as well as the price of each deer, is controlled by a ministry-formed committee.

“The aim of selling the deer is domestication and farming. The animals will preferably go to breeders who will enjoy having them and breeding them, and not for the purpose of human consumption,” Khawaldeh added. 

Imad Awadallah is a well-known deer trader and breeder in Jordan who has been running a deer trading business for decades.

“Deer meat is considered to be expensive in Jordan. Therefore, a very low proportion of Jordanians buy deer intending to consume it,” Awadallah told The Jordan Times. 

A female deer is usually sold for around JD650, while a male deer is sold for about JD550, he said. 

“Deer can be tamed and domesticated. However, the vast majority of deer are not fully domesticated like cows, cats or dogs. The only species of deer that is truly domesticated is the reindeer,” Adwallah added. 

Deer farming exists at a low scale in Jordan, where farmers and breeders put deer in pens and tame them. However, when penning deer, the conditions in which the deer are kept are an important factor for consideration. 

“Their environment should be as close to nature as possible,” Awadallah said.