Humans Of RESQ- Aizaz Shaikh

Quiet, reclusive, and shy when amongst other people, and equally sharp, forthcoming, and courageous when rescuing animals, is how Aizaz Shaikh is known at RESQ. Aizaz grew up being fascinated with wildlife and always harbored a dream of working in that field. Even though his job at an import-export firm in Mumbai was going well, he gave it up in a heartbeat to move to Pune and join RESQ when he heard of an opening through his childhood friend who was already working at RESQ as a rescuer.

Aizaz joined as a rehabber and loved his job as wildlife rehabilitation offered him the chance to interact closely with a variety of species and learn about their behavior. But soon he moved to the field rescue team where he became a valuable member of the team with his knowledge of animal behavior. His most memorable rescue is, when a 500 kgs bull had fallen down a valley and was rescued over a span of 7 hours. “We were all exhausted and still kept going because all we wanted was to bring the bull who had already been missing for a month, out to safety”, he recalls. “It was stuck in slushy water next to a stream and we were all using the kind of energy we didn’t know we possessed”, he adds. But his most favorite moment of the rescue remains the minute the bull was reunited with the farmer family who owned it and the happiness on their faces made every struggling minute of that rescue worth it for him.

When Aizaz isn’t working, he loves to go trekking and to go exploring on his motorbike. He is a ‘explorer’ by nature and loves to go explore for flora and fauna. He’s also a techie who loves is learn about new gadgets. He is referred to as “yaaron ka yaar” because he loves cooking for his friends, reading about philosophy and being their adviser from time to time. The quote he lives by is “Satyamev Jayate” which means truth prevails and when asked what animal he would’ve liked to be born as, “an eagle because it flies high” he says shyly.