Velvet antlers are stags’ young antlers that have not yet ossified. They grow once a year, maturing in around 80 days. If they are not harvested in time, they will age into full antlers and fall off naturally, losing their nutritional value. In the early stage of growth, velvet antlers have a surface of skin with cartilage and capillaries inside. Domestic research has shown velvet antler can boost the body’s metabolism, strengthen the immune function and be beneficial to health.
(Photo: CNA)
The sambar’s velvet antlers are like human fingernails -- the process of removing them is not painful. Deer farms of any size now have complete equipment for harvesting velvet antlers so that the animals are not frightened by being tied up and the antlers can be removed in three to five minutes.
To thank the deer for the income they bring in, the townsfolk of Guoxing every year hold the Deer God Festival (鹿神祭). The story of the festival’s origins goes that when the Hakka of earlier years moved to this place from the Hsinchu area, they wanted to raise funds to build a local land god temple but couldn’t get together enough money to build one. Then one day along came an antlered sambar that did not want to leave. The people tossed a cup to learn the god’s will, and were permitted to harvest the sambar’s velvet to raise the funds to build the temple. Thereafter, Guoxing Township lived off deer farming and the land god temple was later rebuilt into a Wugu temple (五穀宮), a place of worship for the god of agriculture. After the temple remained safe and sound following the 921 earthquake of 1999, local residents began to use the temple as the center for the Deer God Festival, which is held in March each year.
(Photo: CNA)
To raise the economic value of the Formosan sambar, workers in the Guoxing Township deer farm industry have in recent years developed health food supplements using velvet antler in an innovative style to meet the tastes of young people. Another farmer has introduced velvet antler into cooking, coming up with velvet eggs, velvet wine sausage and chicken soup. In addition, the local community development association has combined raising sambar ecological education with tour itineraries so that this unique industry of Guoxing’s Hakka people can continue to develop.