Minister for Animal Husbandry and Forest K. Raju has said that climate change has been imposing reciprocal effects on the wildlife prosperity and on ecological equilibrium.
Speaking after inaugurating a workshop on ‘Conservative medicines in the changing climatic scenario’ at Sulthan Bathery, Mr. Raju said that employees who were dealing with ecology and wildlife would be imparted most modern training in the fields.
The programme was organised by the Indian Veterinary Association, Kerala chapter, in association with the Department of Animal Husbandry and the Department of Forest and Wildlife, for veterinary officers working on the fringes of forest as a part of the Wildlife Week celebration.
Delivering the keynote address, Surendrakumar, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), said that the unwillingness of veterinary officers to work in remote forest areas for long periods was a major reason for the department’s inability to address the issues of wildlife properly. It was important to conduct autopsy of every animal death to learn the wildlife epidemiology and for the animal-disease surveillance in forests, he said.
Technical sessions were handled by N. Kalaivanan, Forest Veterinary Surgeon ,Tamil Nadu; Arun Zachariah, Forest Veterinary Officer, Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary; and Anil Zachariah, Assistant Project Officer, Regional Animal Health Centre, Meenangadi .
Dr. Prejit, Assistant Professor , Department of Veterinary Public Health, College of
Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Pookode, was the moderator.
Dr. Arun Zachariah and Dr. Kalaivanan were honoured on the occasion for their contributions to the wildlife and forest conservation.
