New Delhi : To further strengthen and streamline wildlife rehabilitation efforts in country, the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) – with the support of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) – has launched its new “Wildlife Rehabilitators Exchange Network” (WREN), an association of wildlife rehabilitators in India.

WREN aims to create a common platform for exchange of information on all wildlife rehabilitation issues, through an enlisted group of wildlife rehabilitators and veterinarians who also can be specially called upon to provide emergency relief to wildlife in their localities. The idea is to think globally and act locally.

According to Dr. Prajna Paramita Panda, Program Officer, Wild Rescue WTI, “WREN is the first national level network of wildlife rehabilitators in India. It will consist of individuals working for wildlife, wildlife veterinarians, biologists, foresters etc. The network will function similar to the lines of British Wildlife Rehabilitation Council (BWRC) in UK and National Wildlife Rehabilitation Association (NWRA) in USA.”

Under this new initiative, a group of wildlife experts under WREN would provide information and advice and impart special skills to rehabilitators stationed in different parts of the country. Ideally WREN would assess the preparedness and commitment of the wildlife rehabilitators to address emergency situations as and when a need arises.

Some of the important areas of work that WREN would highlight are the emerging role of wildlife rehabilitation and the present conservation needs. It will also share knowledge and exchange skills relating to husbandry, wildlife translocation, rehabilitation principles and veterinary care of displaced wildlife, so that wildlife disasters are appropriately addressed. WREN also plans to hold tri-annual meetings of its members in different parts of the country, coinciding with WTI’s annual rehabilitation training workshops.

Members would be provided an ID card along with a password to access the WREN members’ directory enabling contact with WREN members in India classified on the basis of state, workplace and specialization. A compendium on studies of wildlife rehabilitation published by WTI and other rehabilitation papers, publications, etc. would also be available to WREN members from time to time. One deserving member of the WREN family each year would be selected for a training programme on wildlife rehabilitation.

Presently, WTI has pooled the WREN members from its wildlife rehabilitation workshops which were conducted in five different states of India, viz, Bangalore (Karnataka), Delhi, Pune ( Maharashtra), Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh) and Kaziranga ( Assam) over a period of four years. The last workshop was held in Kaziranga in Assam during the centenary celebrations of the Kaziranga National Park.

Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) in its endeavor to rescue and rehabilitate displaced wild animals have come a long way since the inception of two pioneering projects in North East India, namely the Centre for Bear Rehabilitation and Conservation (CBRC) in Arunachal Pradesh and the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) in Assam. The WREN network as part of WTI’s Wild Rescue program hopes to create a community of dedicated rehabilitators, many of whom have the heart but not the skill, through the exchange of information and by imparting training on rehabilitation practices. Through this new cadre of network members, WTI’s wild rescue operations will now be able to reach out to all parts of the country.