The State’s first mobile rapid action force, or emergency response unit, for assisting wild animals in distress and victims of conflict situation is set for a launch in June at Bandipur.
The mobile squad will comprise a veterinary unit — with an ambulance equipped with necessary drugs, dart guns, and equipment to trap animals.
H.C. Kantharaj, Conservator of Forests and Director of Bandipur Tiger Reserve, told The Hindu that each wildlife circle in the State is likely to get a mobile unit for which the Forest Department has procured 13 such vehicles to start with.
However, Bandipur will get two vehicles, including the one to be made available by the Wildlife Trust of India. This unit will have their own panel of veterinarians and animal experts. There will be another unit stationed at Nagarahole. “The launch is likely to be held on June 7 or 9, said Mr. Kantharaj.
Each unit will operate within a 100-km radius and the protocol on the release of captured animals straying into human habitat is being worked out. “They will be shifted to the Chamundi Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre on the outskirts of Mysuru for examination and medical treatment, and if found to be fit, will be released back into the wild somewhere in the same area,” Mr. Kantharaj added.
At present, doctors are summoned from their field stations or from Mysuru and the cage or nets or procured from elsewhere. Precious time is lost in coordination and in capturing the animal. The emergency response team will be fully equipped to deal with a situation with minimal delay, Mr. Kantharaj added.
Wildlife activists have welcomed the deployment of the emergency response unit with medical equipment as their timely assistance will bring relief to animals in distress. Besides, the Bandipur-Nagarahole-Mudumalai-Wayanad belt not only harbours high density of wildlife, but has high incidents of conflicts. For the record, there are nearly 146 villages on the fringes of Bandipur, with nearly 2.5 lakh domestic cattle and 3 lakh people. A similar number of people live in the adjoining Nagarahole. Given the terrain, timely intervention will help save animal and human life, say activists.
