Wildlife SOS

A Rescued Sloth Bear at the Agra Bear Rescue Facility

The sloth bear (Melurus ursinus) is a medium-sized omnivorous species of bear found in the Indian subcontinent, predominantly India, with a small population in Nepal and Bhutan, and a sub-species in Sri Lanka. It is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red list.[2]

One of the major causes of this is the exploitation of sloth bears as ‘dancing’ bears by members of a nomadic tribe known as the Kalandars or Qalandars (a trade declared illegal under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972),[3] poaching and mistreatment of the animals to support the same, and trafficking of bear parts for use in traditional Chinese medicine – contributing to the declining numbers of sloth bears in the wild.[4]

A dancing bear and its Kalandar Master

Wildlife SOS is credited with the eradication of the ‘dancing bear’ practice in India,[5] rescuing bears from abusive owners and poachers and rehabilitating them in one of four centers in India-

1. Agra Bear Rescue Facility (2000) in Agra

2. Bannerghatta Bear Rescue Facility (2005) in Karnataka

3. Van Vihar Bear Rescue Facility (2006) in Bhopal

4. Purulia Bear Rescue Centre (2007) in West Bengal

Here, the bears are given the medical care required, fed and allowed to socialize and roam in large, free-range areas. So far, more than 640 sloth bears have been rehabilitated by the organization. Wildlife SOS also carries out ex-situ conservation studies on the bears to enhance existing conservation measures for the species’ survival and provides sustainable, alternative livelihoods to the bears’ former owners and their families.[6]

The Indian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) is one of three recognized subspecies of the Asian elephant, native to mainland Asia and is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red list.[7]

Rescued elephants at the Elephant Conservation and Care Centre, Mathura

Elephants are under threat due to poaching, habitat destruction, man-animal conflict and encroachment. Ignorance and a lack of awareness have resulted in the continuous enslavement of these animals as working elephants- to beg, for display in temples, for performances and entertainment, ceremonies and physical labour.[7]

Wildlife SOS works in collaboration with the Government of India’s Project Elephant and in partnership with the Haryana Forest Department at Ban Santour and the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department at Mathura to confiscate abused and mistreated elephants and provide them safe and healthy retirement in one of the two elephant sanctuaries it manages - the Elephant Conservation and Care Centre (set up in 2011) in Mathura[8] and the Elephant Rescue Centre (set up in 2010) in Haryana.[9] Wildlife SOS is currently caring for 23 rehabilitated elephants at these two centers. Medical treatment is made available for injured or sick elephants, and handlers, known as mahouts, are trained in humane treatment and management of the animals to improve their working conditions and reduce illicit poaching and mistreatment of the animals.

In 2014, Wildlife SOS announced its mission to rescue the then 67 remaining elephants from circuses in India.

At the beginning of 2016, 8 circus elephants were already in the care of the organization.

The Wildlife SOS Elephant Conservation and Care Centre (ECCC) was established in 2009 in collaboration with the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department to address the conservation issues facing Asian elephants in India. The main objectives of the centre are to eradicate illegal trafficking and holding of elephants, creating a platform for public awareness about the threats faced by Asian elephants, and ensuring the safety and protection of elephants in the wild while pioneering humane, modern and scientific management of elephants in India as a replacement of traditional methods of management that are fraught with risks to the elephants, owners and mahouts.[10][11] ECCC serves as a model centre where humane management and training of elephants is practiced in a country where traditional management methods involving abuse and starvation have been in wide use for centuries.

In 2018, Wildlife SOS established India's first elephant hospital at its Elephant Conservation and Care Centre to provide specialized medical treatment to sick and aged elephants.[12][13][14]

Rescued Asiatic Black Bear at the Dachigam Bear Rescue Centre

The Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus), also called the Moon bear, is one of four species of bear found in India. The range of the Asiatic black bear extends across the Himalayas, from Bhutan to Pakistan. It is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red list.[15]

Wildlife SOS works in Kashmir to mitigate human-animal conflict that arises when bears wander into human settlements, incidents of which increase with deforestation and encroachment. Wildlife SOS has been working with the Jammu and Kashmir Wildlife Protection Department and the Forest Department since 2007, attempting to mitigate the conflict situation in the area.

As part of this project, known as the Moon Bear Conservation Project, Wildlife SOS conducts training workshops for the staff of the J&K Wildlife Protection Department with focus on capacity building and training in the use of specialized tranquilizing equipment and avoidance behaviour, carries out extensive studies on man-animal conflict situations and treats and rehabilitates animals that fall victim to confrontation- in particular moon bears and leopards. If possible, the animals are released back into the wild, else they are cared for and treated by Wildlife SOS staff at centers in Pahalgam and Dachigam in Kashmir.[16]

Rescued Leopard at the Wildlife SOS Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre

The leopard (Panthera pardus) is one of five big cats found in India (also found in Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Pakistan) and is listed as near-threatened on the IUCN Red List.[17]

The animals are under threat due to a variety of factors, including but not limited to habitat encroachment and poaching.

The scrub jungle of Maharashtra was ideal habitat for the leopard until incentives for the cultivation of sugarcane lead to rampant callous farming practices and encroachment of the leopards’ habitat, causing man-animal conflict to escalate.[18] In 2008, Wildlife SOS collaborated with the state government on the expansion of the existing Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre in Junnar, near Pune, which currently houses 30 leopards.[19] In addition, Wildlife SOS veterinarians and biologists conduct awareness workshops and training programs for local communities, the Forest Department, law enforcement, educational institutions and forums to help raise awareness and mitigate conflict situations.[20]

Wildlife SOS’ habitat conservation project is situated near the Ram Durga valley in Koppal, Karnataka, and aims at protecting critical sloth bear habitat, threatened by illegal mining activities, rampant deforestation and encroachment by human settlements and industries which, along with poaching, massacred the wildlife of the region. In 2007, Wildlife SOS purchased nearly 40 acres of land in the region, creating a crucial wildlife corridor by allowing at-risk habitats to link up with a patch of Reserve Forest.[21]

The project was expanded in 2012, with the acquisition of an additional 10 acres of land, made possible by the support of BHEL, PSSR, Chennai. In consultation with experts, appropriate species of vegetation were selected and an extensive afforestation project was undertaken- planting nearly 10,000 saplings. A bore well, drip irrigation system and solar powered electrical fencing were acquired. Local community members were employed to manage and patrol the land, allowing the project to achieve a 90% plant survival rate in just 2–3 years. The vegetation flourished and, in areas where conservation efforts had been initiated earlier, species of wildlife have begun returning, including sloth bear, leopards and endangered species like the pangolin and star tortoise.

In addition, Wildlife SOS works with local communities and stakeholders, and works to educate them so as to increase their involvement in forest protection. The organization works to secure agricultural land along forested area, to serve as safe buffers for wildlife.

Wildlife SOS works to curb the illegal trade and trafficking of wildlife and wildlife products - birds, mammals and reptiles, along with skins, bones and other body parts harvested from poached animals. Efforts at eradicating the practice of ‘dancing’ bears and related poaching have resulted in a marked reduction in bear poaching as per statistics. However, it still persists to feed demand in neighboring countries and Wildlife SOS has had to rescue more than 73 sloth bear cubs from poachers over ten years. Wildlife SOS’ anti-poaching squad, Forest Watch, consists of a complex network of informants gathering critical information on poachers and criminals involved in the illegal wildlife trade.[22] Forest Watch has assisted the forest department, the police department and law enforcement agencies to crack down on traffickers and smugglers, recover animal skins, body parts, ivory and sometimes live animals from poachers, and even provide legal assistance where required.[23][24]

Wildlife SOS offers further assistance by conducting grassroots-level training workshops focusing on capacity building and wildlife crime prevention in the field.

Understanding that human involvement is crucial to conservation efforts, Wildlife SOS works with local communities in urban and rural areas to educate people regarding their local wildlife and ecosystem. Programs focus on teaching locals how to live sustainably with their environment, helping people deal with man-animal conflict in vulnerable areas and involving locals in conservation efforts such as tree-plantation drives in Jammu and Kashmir, plastic removal drives in Bannerghatta and cleaning the Dal lake with the help of students from local schools and colleges.[25]

Orphaned rhesus macaque rescued by Wildlife SOS

Wildlife SOS also routinely hosts workshops with law officers, forest department enforcement officers, police and customs officials to educate them about the wildlife trade, recognition of contraband, basic understanding of related law in the field, conflict mitigation and rescue techniques to control human-animal conflict.[26][27]

In addition to its conservation projects, Wildlife SOS runs a 24-hour animal rescue with a team trained to perform emergency rescues of wild animals in three states – Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. The initiative was started in 1998, and now responds to nearly 300 rescue calls a month. The team rescues animals and birds that have been injured, abandoned or trapped in urban areas. Common rescues include monkeys, jackals, snakes, monitor lizards, deer and birds.[28][29][30] These are given immediate medical attention and then released in suitable, safer locations in the presence of Forest Department officials. If release is not possible, the animals are relocated to the WSOS Rescue Centre in Gurgaon, set up in 1999. Since 2010, Wildlife SOS has been working in collaboration with the Gujarat Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (GSPCA) to rescue wildlife trapped in urban localities, particularly snakes and crocodiles in Gujarat. Wildlife SOS’s rescue team has animal-control contracts with Indira Gandhi Airport,[31][32] Delhi Golf Club, Agra Developmental Authority,[33] Delhi Jal Board, Akbars Tomb,[34] residential colonies in the city and the Commonwealth Games village for the 2010 Commonwealth games hosted in India.

As part of its project to eradicate the erstwhile practice of dancing bears in India, Wildlife SOS runs a simultaneous rehabilitation program for the Qalandar (Kalandar) tribals, for whom the bears provided a source of livelihood.[35] The program, started in 2001, includes incentives for the bear-owners, in the form of sustainable livelihood alternatives. Wildlife SOS may provide seed funds for ventures or assist in the purchase of shops, handcarts, bicycles, cycle-rickshaws, auto-rickshaws or something that could support an alternative career for the individual, as well as providing training for alternative jobs as drivers, small scale poultry or goat farmers, metallurgy or gem-cutting and stone polishing for costume jewelry. Rehabilitated tribals form nearly 50% of the workforce at Wildlife SOS’ rescue centres.

Wildlife SOS also organizes vocational courses and seed funding for the womenfolk of the community to start businesses in the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, sets up self-help groups and provides them with marketing links, wherever necessary. This allows them to become secondary breadwinners for the family and empowers them through financial independence.

Further, Wildlife SOS provides educational opportunities for the children of Kalandars, helping them break out of the cycle of poverty and oppression and eliminating dependency on ‘dancing’ bears for income, thereby reducing poaching and mistreatment of the animals.[36]

Wildlife SOS is also involved in the rehabilitation of other traditionally wildlife-dependent communities including the Saperas, an originally nomadic, Muslim tribe of snake-charmers, hiring the community members to work with them as animal rescue workers.