Visakhapatnam: The fifth annual workshop on wildlife rehabilitation concluded today at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. It was organized from March 27 to 29 by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) in partnership with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). 

This year, the focus was on marine turtles and snakes. A major part of the discussion was also on the problem animal management and rehabilitation of the displaced animals.

About 50 wildlife rehabilitators from eight states which included Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, West Bengal, Kerala, Mizoram, Karnataka and Delhi, participated. It was jointly hosted by Indira Gandhi Zoological Park, Vishakapatnam and the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Resource persons from the IFAW, Wildlife Institute of India, Central Zoo Authority, Compassion Unlimited plus Action, and Turtle Conservation Project Sri Lanka were called in for contribution.

Dr. Ian Robinson, IFAW’s ER Team Manager while narrating his experience said that the wildlife rehabilitation has truly evolved as a multi-disciplinary activity over the years, with rehabilitators from various disciplines comprising veterinarians, biologists, conservationists, wildlife officals of the forest department and NGOs coming together to assist in the process.

“This platform will enable us to address the welfare needs of wild animals that are distressed or displaced in the region.” he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Guest Padmanavan, Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) expressed his concern on the escalating man-animal conflict in different parts of the country and stressed the need for spreading awareness and to build expertise in handling such situations.

Since 2001, WTI has been organizing regional workshops in different parts of the country. Previous venues had been Bangalore, Pune, Itanagar and Delhi.