A rare white mousedeer has been drawing scores of curious visitors to the house of a wild honey collector in Kampung Buluh Penyumpit, Langkawi, since he captured the animal a week ago.
    
Jismani Hasan, 41, said the mousedeer - about 17 centimetres tall - was found while it was drinking water at a stream when he went into the jungle near his village to look for honey last Wednesday.
    
"At first, I was scared when I saw the white mousedeer as it was already dusk at that time. Previously, I had only come across mousedeer in their usual brown colour on several occasions in the jungle," he said when met at his house today.
    
Jismani, who had been accompanied by his son on that jungle outing, was determined to catch the strange mousedeer by using the fishing net he had brought along with him.
    
The mousedeer attempted to flee, but Jismani and his son gave chase and caught it. At the same time, they also managed to catch a normal-coloured mousedeer which happened to be near the white one.

Since news of the capture of the male white mousedeer - which Jismani has named Awang Putih - spread, his house located near the foothills has been visited by many people eager to see the animal.
    
According to Jismani, his grandfather Ahmad Yom, a traditional medicine practitioner, came across a white macaque (kera) near a rubber smallholding in Bukit Temin, Langkawi about 14 years ago.

Asked whether anything strange had happened to him since he caught the white mousedeer, Jismani - who is also into traditional medicine like his grandfather - said: "No weird dreams so far. It's just that since I have Awang Putih, my income has increased a little."
    
This white mousedeer is the second such discovery in 14 years after the first on March 23, 2001 in the Bukit Tekuh forest reserve, Langkawi.
    
- Bernama