It has almost been 25 years for the iron curtain to have come down, but central European deer are not still willing to cross areas where there used to be electrified fences. Scientists have reached at the conclusion after conducting a seven-year study in Sumava national park, in the Czech Republic. They found that red deer were scared of spots where the then Czechoslovakia had fixed three electrified fences.

Almost 500 people lost their lives after they tried to escape the country across the frontier with Germany. Deer were killed too at that time. The scientists found that none of the deer living now has encountered the barrier, said Pavel Sustr, a biologist who led the project. The average life expectancy of deer is 15 years. Sustr said a role is still played by the border to separate the two populations.

The study provided clear evidence that red deer are wary of the once perilous areas where armed guards used to patrol three parallel electrified fences. The seven-year study has found an interesting fact that the invisible border is still in the memory of the population and will be passed on to generations to come as well.

After communists took power in Czechoslovakia in 1948, three parallel electrified fences were set up there. After many deer became the victim of the barrier, the fences were brought down in 1991. The research has showed that animals prefer to follow traditional life patterns and return to the same places every year.

"I don't think it's a surprising result. These animals are really conservative", said professor Ludek Bartos of the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, who was not involved in the research.