In a first, state gets 100-acre animal rescue centre on city outskirts

Ranchi: Animals, which are often rescued from human captivity and the wild, now have a home in the state as

Jharkhand

’s first animal rescue centre near Ranchi has been thrown open for use by the state department of forests, environment and climate change.Spread over 100 acres, the centre has come up at Barwe village in Ormanjhi block of Ranchi district, 22 km from the state capital. Located on the Ormanjhi-Boriyo road, the facility houses one male langoor and two male sloth bears which were freed from human captivity in the last six months. While the monkey was rescued from Kanke in January this year, the bears were brought here from

Bokaro

’s Nawadih earlier this week.Envisaged over 16 years ago, the work for the centre began in 2019 after the then CM

Raghubar Das

sanctioned a budget of Rs 8.20 crore. Three years later, the centre’s enclosures for deer, leopards and primates and a moat for the bear have been readied. “We are seeking the administrative approval for the construction of separate enclosures for elephants and hyenas,” Umesh Sahani, Ranchi’s divisional forest officer (wildlife) told TOI on Tuesday. The centre is expected to become fully functional by 2023,

Sahani

added.The centre will be guarded by an 18,200-feet long perimeter wall, of which 5,000 has been built so far.Besides having four watch towers and a massive water tank, it also houses a veterinary hospital. The hospital is currently being manned by a vet from Ranchi’s Birsa Biological Park, as the department is acutely short of doctors. “There are 10 vets who are being trained by the government currently in Rajasthan and Dehradun and we hope that we will have a few of them soon,” Sahani said.
Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, Location Guesser and Mini Crossword.