Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW) president Pawan Sharma said they have addressed the letter to Shree Bhagwan, principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF), wildlife and chief wildlife warden, bringing his attention to the fact that an SOP is the need of the hour.
A Mumbai-based NGO working on urban wildlife rescue and sensitising people about wildlife issues has written to the forest department, questioning the delay in finalisation and implementation of the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for wildlife rescue and rehabilitation. The SOP was supposed to be implemented last year.
Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW) president Pawan Sharma said they have addressed the letter to Shree Bhagwan, principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF), wildlife and chief wildlife warden, bringing his attention to the fact that an SOP is the need of the hour. At present, there are no set guidelines on procedures to be followed in case of human-animal conflict or a rescue operation.
In fact, according to sources in the forest department, the plan to have an SOP was initiated in June 2015. As per the plan, there were supposed to be different SOPs to handle conflicts with various animals, including leopards, monkeys, crocodiles, bisons and snakes throughout the state.
The letter stated, "Several meetings were held and important inputs were given by the wildlife rescuers, experts, scientists, activists and NGO representatives, as well as forest officials. In fact, a final draft of all SOPs for dealing with different animals was created with a list of equipment, staff, vehicle and infrastructure to be provided or procured by all divisions and range offices with the help of departmental funds."
According to Sharma, the last information they received said the final copy was sent to the PCCF for review and approval. It was supposed to be released by the end of 2015 among all divisions of the forest department with immediate effect but nothing happened.
"Several specific key points were discussed and listed. They were to guide officials on not only how to avoid the conflict in the first place but to create awareness. Hence, we are requesting for the introduction and implementation of the state-level SOPs as soon as possible," said Sharma, who is also the honorary animal welfare officer and was part of the meetings to set up SOP for monkey conflict and rescue.
Recently, a monkey that had created a scare in the Sion area was tied up and kept for three hours by a rescuer, till some forest department officials reached the spot. "Complaints regarding monkeys are increasing and with no set guidelines, no equipment and lack of a proper team, several rescuers and NGOs are facing a lot of difficulty," concluded Sharma.
Meanwhile, a senior official from the forest department said in several meetings, the top brass has regularly discussed the need for of SOPs. "Implementation of these SOPs also requires a lot of coordination with other government agencies and we are sure the forest department will clear it soon and press for implementation."
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