Telangana's failed gaur rescue highlights systemic flaws, lack of SOPs, and uncoordinated wildlife conflict response
Hyderabad: The death of a gaur not very far from the city on Friday after it was tranquillised was the result of “a chaotic, unplanned, ad hoc operation with no clear chain of command,” officials said, exposing just how unprepared the forest department is to deal with wild animals coming into conflict with people but also probable lack of support from the administration.
A senior forest department official admitted that no one was willing to own responsibility when it came to launching the effort to rescue the gaur, and after it ended in the death due to dehydration and stress of the animal that is listed as an endangered species and vulnerable, not just by the Centre but also the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Previously too, some rescue efforts ended in the death of the ‘rescued’ animal as was the case with a leopard in 2020 caught in Rajapet Thanda, incidentally also in Nalgonda district. The leopard had died on the way to the Nehru Zoological Park.
“It is not fair to blame the vet. He has no option but to take the shot when ordered to. The problem in Telangana is systemic,” a senior wildlife scientist said. “There was clearly no initiative from the top to control the crowd that was chasing the animal,” te scientist said.
“All that the forest officials can do is to try and capture the animal safely. Crowd control and creating conditions for a safe operation lie with the district collector and the superintendent of police. The question is, whether they were onboarded in this case. If they were, the question leads to their failure in ensuring safe operating conditions for the forest officials who could have saved the animal.”
The scientist explained that the government must first declare human-wildlife conflicts as a ‘state problem’, and only then a proper system can evolve.
According to forest department officials, the state has no specific standard operating protocol when it comes to wildlife rescues. One official said wildlife veterinarians pick up their experience at the two zoos in the state, the NZP in Hyderabad, and Kakatiya in Warangal. “Their experience comes from tranquillising animals in the zoo which require to undergo treatment, and gets enhanced when they go into the field to capture animals,” an official said.
Incidentally, the supervisory body for wildlife protection in Telangana – the State Board for Wildlife (SBWL) – did come face to face with the need to have a comprehensive wildlife rescue plan and mechanism. “This issue was raised a few times at the SBWL meetings,” WWF’s representative for the state, Farida Tampal, who is a member of the Board, said. “Telangana needs a comprehensive plan and a proper rescue centre.”
