Keonjhar, Odisha, 22 October 2020:

Wildlife Trust of India’s Mobile Veterinary Service (MVS) team conducted a refresher training for the rescue team of Keonjhar Forest Division, Odisha at Anjar ecotourism complex in August this year.

While, initially planned for three days due to COVID restrictions the training module had to be confined to one day. Eighteen out of twenty registered participants were present during the training, which was also graced by Mr. Ghanshyam Mahanta, ACF keonjhar and Mr. Santosh Joshi, DFO Keonjhar.

Dr. Bandeeta Mishra, Wildlife Vet (WTI), Mr. Rudra Mahapatra, OiC, Vet on Wheels (WTI) and Mr. Suresh Patnaik, Trainer, NCC Air – Wing, Bhubaneswar were also part of this training session.

The training commenced with a welcome speech from Mr. Mahanta, followed by a refresher of the subjects covered during the previous training sessions. The participants shared their feedback about the training and its applicability in their line of duty.

A practical session on safe rescue methods of snakes was also demonstrated by Rudra Mahapatra. Appropriate handling of large snakes, Bag and pipe method, snake box management and importance of micro chipping was advised during this session.

Keonjhar forest division extensively uses aerial surveillance in its operations and a session on aerial surveillance was felt necessary and this training was imparted by Mr. Suresh Patnaik who graciously accepted our request and spared his time for the participants. In this session, the use of drones in forest management, applicability during rescue and enforcement operations, landscape surveys and other tricks of the trade were described including tips on drone maintenance. This classroom session was followed by a practical outdoor session with the drone operators of the Keonjhar forest division.

In our post training test evaluation, all the participants scored better than they had in the pretests, indicating a successful assimilation of the training knowledge imparted during this daylong session.

A basic field kit of bag, field jacket, cap, water bottle and a t-shirt were also distributed among the 18 participants by WTI MVS during this training.

The workshop ended with a concluding remark of Mr. Santosh Joshi, who appreciated WTI’s efforts in wildlife conservation in Odisha.

MVS Keonjhar is the second MVS to be set up in Odisha after MVS Simlipal which was set up in 2014, both these units are supported by the Odisha Forest department and work in tandem with them in helping rescue wildlife get them #BacktotheWild.

Till date, Wild Rescue, one of our core programme areas has rescued over 100 displaced wildlife in this landscape via our Mobile Veterinary Service units.