Wildlife management workshop held at Agra

AGRA: The

Wildlife SOS

in collaboration with the

Wildlife Institute of India

organized a wildlife management workshop for veterinary officers from

Uttarakhand

forest department at the Elephant Conservation and Care Center in

Mathura

and also at the Agra Bear Rescue Facility to learn about wildlife management and veterinary care.

In a collaborative initiative, Wildlife SOS and Wildlife Institute of India (WII),

Dehradun

organized an exposure visit and orientation workshop for veterinary officers of Uttarakhand forest department. This was part of a 10-day long field trip for officer trainees undergoing training in wildlife management, medical care, human-wildlife conflict mitigation and managing wild animals in distress.

Following the orientation session with expert on-site Wildlife SOS veterinarians at the Elephant Conservation and Care Center, the team visited the organization's Agra Bear Rescue Facility which currently house nearly 200 rescued sloth bears. Management and upkeep of rescued sloth bears, elephant management, the scientific and humane elephant management techniques such as positive conditioning, target training and foot care were also key aspects of the workshop.

Dr GS Rawat, dean, faculty of Wildlife Sciences at WII said, "It was a wonderful experience for our trainees who were exposed to various wildlife management techniques as well as advanced diagnostics. The objective of the workshop was to gain better technical field expertise and understanding of various wildlife health issues and sensitize them on recent advancement in the area of animal capture and wildlife forensics."

Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder of Wildlife SOS, said "We are delighted to collaborate with Wildlife Institute of India and share the humane and scientific Wildlife management methods adopted by Wildlife SOS."

Dr S Ilayaraja, deputy director of veterinary services at Wildlife SOS said, "At Wildlife SOS, we undertake research in disease management and provides specialised veterinary care for wild animals under our care. The Wildlife SOS Hospital at the Agra Bear Rescue Facility is equipped with state of the art medical equipment, an operation theatre and a laboratory for disease diagnosis."

Baiju Raj MV, director, conservation projects, Wildlife SOS, said, "We were extremely happy to extend our support to the WII and

Uttarakhand Forest Dept

. to organise this training workshop for their veterinary officers. We look forward to hosting similar training programs with them in the future."