Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Brought back to life by a noose

Post-ordeal: The rescued Small Indian Civet.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Around noon the other day at Illickal, on the outskirts of Kottayam town, there was an excited gathering of people around a well at a construction site. A Small Indian Civet, listed in Schedule II part II of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, which had fallen into the well, perhaps the previous night, was the subject of interest. Children who were playing nearby found the animal struggling in the water.

Few people in the neighbourhood had seen such an animal, though it is present in most parts of the country, not only in protected areas but also in human habitats. Among the elders who assembled around the well, opinion was divided on whether to rescue it or kill it.

Panchayat ward member Kareem, who happened to pass by, prevailed upon the group to choose the first option, but the civet’s fang-like teeth were menacing and none was ready to go down the well and rescue it.

While Mr. Kareem phoned Forest officials in Kottayam, a police constable who had joined the group dropped a noose into the well and, with deft manoeuvres of the rope from above, got the noose round the civet’s belly. The noose was knotted in such a way as to stay slack, without tightening, lest the animal should be injured. The Forest officials, who reached the scene soon, lifted the civet out of the well and got it into a cage. They kept it under observation for a few hours and when it was found to be quite all right, the officials set it free in a marshy grass-growing area after dusk, the time when this nocturnal creature really comes into its own.

A voracious eater of rats and insects (in addition to lizards, birds, birds’ eggs and even fruits), the Small Indian Civet (known in Malayalam as ‘veruku’) is a great friend of the farmer. It exudes a strong musky scent because of the excretion from a scent gland. Its major threats include the perfume industry and habitat destruction.

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