The Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), working in partnership with the State Forests and Environment Department, on September 23 commenced a three-day intensive training workshop on rescue and rehabilitation of displaced wildlife at Ramtirtha and Jashipur, near the Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR).
The circle-level advanced training is a culmination of a series of workshops conducted since 2015 at various divisions of STR at the behest of the Regional Chief Conservator of Forests (RCCF)-cum-Field Director of STR Harish Kumar Bisht.
The initial workshops were held at Baripada (core), as well as the Rairangpur, Karanjia and Baleswar (wildlife) divisions with the objective of identifying and constituting circle-level teams of five Forest Department personnel in each division. These candidates having been identified, the advanced training will now focus on equipping, sensitising and further enhancing their ability to handle emergencies related to displaced wildlife.
The workshop was inaugurated by Bisht besides Divisional Forest Officer, Rairangpur Dr JD Pati, Assistant Conservator of Forests, Baripada STR AK Biswal, Honorary Wildlife Warden Dr KK Mondal, retired army officer Major Das and representatives from WTI.
WTI, working through its Rapid Action Projects (RAP) division, also provided a quadcopter drone, a type of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), to the Forest department on the occasion. “Through this urgent support, we are certain that STR’s surveillance capabilities will improve manifold”, said Project lead, Wild Aid, WTI DebobrotoSircar, handing over the device to Bisht. The RCCF-cum-Field Director expressed his excitement and gratitude at receiving the quadcopter, a first for STR, and said that it would definitely be a boon to the conservation work being undertaken at the tiger reserve. RudraMahapatra, WTI’s State facilitator, who has experience with quadcopters, will train the participants on its usage during the workshop and continue to assist the Forest Department in future implementations.
The workshop will provide mainly hands-on training for the most part over the coming sessions, with some theoretical sessions on the foundations and protocols of wildlife rescue, rehabilitation, ethics and documentation.
Dr KhaninChangmai, veterinary surgeon with WTI’s Mobile Veterinary Service (MVS) unit at STR, provided a demonstration and training on using immobilisation equipment, which included shooting practice for the trainees. Other practical sessions will include technical rope rescue training on land and water bodies, mock drills on emergencies involving elephants, leopards, bears and tigers, and human-snake conflict mitigation.