Pawan Sharma, the president of an NGO, Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare, whose team finally carried out the rescue operation, said that it was on February 16 that they received a call from the Thane Forest Control Room about a monkey having been spotted in the Tulsipada area of Bhandup.
In an incident that has left wildlife rescuers and animal lovers shocked and angry, a monkey that was allegedly attacked with acid succumbed to its injuries on Saturday after being rescued four days too late.
What seems to have really upset the rescuers was the fact that the monkey could have been saved had the forest department from Thane reacted on day one itself, when it was informed that rescuing this injured monkey would be a difficult process that required special traps and expertise.
Pawan Sharma, the president of an NGO, Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare, whose team finally carried out the rescue operation, said that it was on February 16 that they received a call from the Thane Forest Control Room about a monkey having been spotted in the Tulsipada area of Bhandup.
"We saw fresh wounds on the monkey but since it was still extremely active and agile, it was difficult to rescue it and we immediately told the control room that we needed experts to rescue it," he said.
Sharma added that then, on February 17, they were told that the monkey was still in the same location, in a small enclosure meant for poultry. When his team reached the spot they realised that the enclosure was extremely small and the monkey would have to be tranquilised, but it managed to escape again.
"Finally, we got another call on Friday telling us that the same monkey was in a room in the area and as soon as our team reached, they saw the monkey sitting in a corner. Its injuries seemed to have gotten worse and it could be rescued simply because it just couldn't move," Sharma said. He added that it was then brought to Thane SPCA, before being taken to veterinarian Dr Deepa katyal
"The type of injuries the monkey had indicated that some sort of acid or chemical had been thrown on it as its chest was completely burnt. Moreover, since the injury was old, maggots had eaten most of the flesh. It had burns on its face and hands as well, which were completely scabbed. The animal was completely dehydrated and in a lot of agony," said Dr Katyal, adding that it finally succumbed to its injuries on Saturday.
She added that treating the monkey was a traumatic experience even for her, since she couldn't fathom how people could be so cruel that they could treat an animal in such an inhumane manner.
Sharma said, "The forest department today is not equipped enough to rescue monkeys, and they forward such complaints to NGOs, and at times it's extremely difficult for NGOs like ours to rescue such distressed animals without experts and equipment. The human-monkey conflict is only set to increase, but no one seems to be taking this seriously at the moment."
A senior forest department official said that the BMC has been told time and again to set up an expert team that can tackle issues regarding monkeys, but nothing's been done yet. "We are already facing a severe staff crunch and even lack veterinarians. It has hence been suggested that the BMC gets it own team that can look into these issues," he said.
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