RESQ Wildlife

The landscape that surrounds us and the amazing wildlife that thrives in it has greatly changed over the last decade - the growth in urban development, shifts in agricultural patterns and climatic changes has led to an increasing number of wildlife coming into conflict which gets reported to us on our 24-hour animal emergency helpline by the local community or the Forest Department.

RESQ's intervention with wildlife generally revolves around 5 domains:

1. Wildlife Veterinary Medicine, Surgery and Post-operative Rehabilitation

Wildlife comes to us requiring medical treatment or Surgery and Post-operative care. Impacted by either trauma-related wounds, injuries, or infections, wildlife comes to us from several different situations.

2. Rehabilitation of Abandoned Orphans

When they get reported to RESQ, the first line of action is always to attempt locating their mother and reuniting them. If reuniting fails, the orphans are brought to our centre, hand-raised, rehabilitated, and based on the type of species, future release outcomes are determined.

3. Wildlife Rescued from Trafficking and Illegal Captivity

Some wildlife species come to us after being rescued from illegal captivity, either as pets or seized from illegal traders. People either surrender them when made aware or they come to us if seized by the Forest Department. Commonly these are pangolins, monkeys, turtles, tortoises, or parakeets and their rehabilitation and release outcomes are determined based on the species, their level of affinity to humans or captive conditions, scope to get integrated into social groups, and where their natural distribution is present.

4. Technical Animal Rescue

Sometimes wildlife ends up getting trapped in extreme or difficult situations - over and underground spaces and rescuing them from such situations require fast response, clear strategy, good equipment, and most importantly, a well-trained team. Our RESQ DART team responds to these situations and consists of technically strong professional climbers, veterinarians, and rescuers who are experienced in wildlife handling, behavior, and safety, for animal and human both. No two technical rescues are the same because several factors keep changing with each rescue. While revisiting strategy, improvisation, proper equipment, and a lot of patience results in an animal's final rescue, these animals are generally released as soon as possible after ensuring they are in good health.

5. Human-Animal Conflict Mitigation

Whether it is assisting the Forest Department in mitigating man-leopard conflict situations or educating individuals to not kill snakes when they accidently enter urban settlements, members of our team conduct awareness in conflict areas to ensure human and wildlife safety. Besides working during a conflict situation, we engage in several preventive activities which involve educating school children as well as adults making them aware about living with wildlife around them and peaceful coexistence. We also proactively engage in conducting training activities with different government departments and local groups to foster teamwork, faster response time, and to stay updated about best practices in the field of wildlife treatment and rescue.

The RESQ Wildlife TTC

Operations and Team

In order to do the work we do, we have a dedicated 24-hour helpline where wildlife cases get reported to our team by the general public or the Forest Department. We have animal ambulances with trained animal rescuers and field staff who respond to wildlife emergencies. The RESQ wildlife team consists of Wildlife Rescuers, Rehabilitators, Caretakers, and Field Staff. Our team members have different areas of expertise and experience. Some are great with reptiles and birds, some with mammals, and some are technically strong in rescuing animals of all kinds!

TTC Facility

The RESQ Wildlife TTC is nested on a hilltop just on the outskirts of Pune City. We have an ICU and nursery where infants or critical animals are stabilized under controlled conditions as well as an operating theatre where surgeries and small procedures are performed. Animal rehabilitation units are of varying sizes and versatile so that they can be enriched and adapted based on the species that will be housed in them.

Wildlife Record and Data Management

When rescued wildlife comes into the RESQ Centre, their details are entered into a Web-based data management system called Captive Wildlife Management. All their medical records, rehabilitation progress, pictures, and videos are logged into the system. The Pune Forest Department has online access to this system and can view the data from a computer or mobile phone with few simple clicks. This system maintains all Forest Department registers electronically, along with summary reports of the work. In addition to providing complete information access and transparency to the Forest Department, the system is also used to generate Release Requests and Transport Permits to ease the process and save resources for the department as well as the organisation.

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Help get us things we really need!

You can view a list of the things we really need. Some of them are available on Amazon and you can send them directly to us, while some of them need to be procured from vendors directly. Some things cost nothing, and are items that may not be use to you at home, but extremely useful for animal under rehabilitation and care.

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