Kaziranga (Assam): A pair of jackal pups, found in a tea estate near Kaziranga National Park, Assam is being hand-raised by International Fund for Animal Welfare – Wildlife Trust of India (IFAW-WTI) since middle of March, 2009.  The pups will eventually be rehabilitated in the wild, once they become capable of independent survival.

The two jackal pups were admitted to the IFAW-WTI run Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) near Kaziranga National Park, Assam, on March 17. Found in Naharjan Tea Estate, Dergaon, the pups were kept as pets by local labourers for about a week before they were taken away by authorities for rehabilitation. The mother is believed to have been killed.

“In areas where tea gardens are interspersed with forested areas, leopards, small carnivores such as jackals and jungle cats among other animals often take advantage of such marginal habitat. However, this brings them into conflict with humans, causing displacement,” explained Dr NVK Ashraf, Director, Wild Rescue Programme, IFAW-WTI.

At CWRC, the pups were nursed, bottle-fed and looked after by trained animal keepers under the guidance of wildlife veterinarians.

“The pups were highly stressed when they were first brought in (CWRC), perhaps because of being handled by people and being shifted here and there… We gave them electrolyte solution to check dehydration and for stabilisation. Soon, we started bottle-feeding them and now we give them meat. They have become very active and playful now; they keep running across their enclosure,” said Dr Rinku Gohain, IFAW-WTI veterinarian.

As required by the small carnivore rehabilitation protocol, the pups will be hand-raised with minimal human contact at CWRC. They will be provided with opportunities to learn necessary skills for their survival in the wild.

“It may take anything between six months to a year to successfully hand-raise these pups and let them learn whatever they may need for survival in the wild. We have already hand-raised and released one jackal pup in 2004, we expect to succeed this time around too. We are more optimistic this time as there are two individuals- this will facilitate formation of social bonds and generally help the pups instinctively learn to live in a family, as they do in the wild,” said Dr Ashraf.

Jackal (Canis aureus) is listed under schedule II of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Although, a fairly common canid found across India, in forests, urban or semi-urban areas, its population is believed to be gradually declining. An alarming incident was the recent report on disappearance of jackals from south Kodagu in the Nilgiris in Karnataka. A WTI study revealed pesticide poisoning through bio-accumulation as one of the possible factors for this decline.