The lack of expertise available to the Forest Department to treat an ailing male leopard that was rescued in Udhagamandalam on Saturday has once again thrown into focus the urgent requirement for qualified wildlife veterinarians to be posted in the district to help in wildlife-related emergencies in the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve (NBR).
Despite conservationists’ repeated demands for the wildlife veterinarian post in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) to be filled, the post has remained vacant now for over two years.
N. Sadiq Ali, founder of the Wildlife and Nature Conservation Trust (WNCT), said that veterinarians should be posted in both, MTR and in the Nilgiris division. “The number of human-animal interactions have been on the increase over the last two years, leading to many instances which require the intervention of a qualified wildlife veterinarian, both to rescue animals in distress and to also treat sick or injured animals,” said Mr. Sadiq.
Recent instances, like when a tiger got trapped in a fence in Kotagiri, as well as Saturday’s incident bring into sharp focus the need for veterinarians to be posted in the district, conservationists said.
“In Kotagiri, a tiger was stuck in a fence bordering a farm for an entire day without being rescued as the Department had to wait for a veterinarian to travel to the location from Coimbatore. Meanwhile, the ailing leopard rescued on Saturday is being treated by veterinarians from the animal husbandry department, who have very little experience treating animals like leopards or tigers,” said another local conservationist. One single veterinarian was in-charge of attending to wildlife emergencies in Pollachi, Coimbatore and the Nilgiris, he said.
Statistics available with The Hindu show that between April 2018 and November 2019, a total of 96 Gaurs and 13 leopards died in the Nilgiris Forest Division. In many of these cases, death of the animals could have been prevented if there had been timely intervention by qualified wildlife veterinarians, conservationists said.
When contacted, District Forest Officer, Nilgiris division, D. Guruswamy, said the ailing leopard that was rescued on Saturday was being treated for convulsions by the Department of Animal Husbandry. “Treatment seems to be yielding some positive results, but the animal continues to be in critical condition,” he said. It seemed that the leopard had contracted some kind of viral infection. “The veterinarians are doing the best job they can,” added the DFO.