Recalling memories of CWRC

I was asked to write about my experiences at Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) on the occasion of its 10^th Anniversary. CWRC is run by Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) at Kaziranga and it’s the only rescue center of its kind in North East India where all types of Wild animals are rescued, treated and even hand-raised to put them back into the wild. In my early days of wildlife rescue, CWRC was the first introduction to the real world of Wildlife rescue, management and rehabilitation for me. I have endless adventurous memories with CWRC and it was a joy-ride to plough the memories back and pen them down! The recollection is as below; it can also be viewed at WTI website (http://www.wti.org.in/project-in-focus/cwrc-at-10/aug2012-cwrc-at-ten-inner-volunteer.html)

My time at CWRC –

Giant Flying squirrel

I had an opportunity to spend a month in late October 2009 at Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC). I was then working with Samrakshn Trust, where my team was engaged in rescue and rehabilitation of wild animals under captivity of locals at South Garo hills region of Meghalaya. My volunteer-ship at CWRC was a part of our hands-on rescue and rehabilitation training program and my objective was to learn the different rescue and rehabilitation methods and their management. But I ended up learning and experiencing much more than what I had anticipated. 

Though it's been almost three years now but still all those adventurous memories of CWRC gives me a Chill!

Assam Roofed turtle

Tokay gecko

In my term there I along with the team of CWRC had attended many rescue calls of different animals, from common Rhesus Macaque (Macaca mulatta) to mighty Wild Buffalo (Bubalus arnee) to elusive Tokay gecko (Gekko gecko), Giant Flying squirrel (Petaurista mechukaensis), rare Assam Roofed turtle (Pangshura sylhetensis) and many others. Though Every rescue and release story is a treasured incident but there are some which warm their way deeper into my heart.

Monocled Cobra

One of such experience was the rescue of a Monocled Cobra (Naja kaouthia) from the backyard of a nearby household. The rescue call came at late hours of the evening and there were only a few animal keepers at CWRC for their night shift. I along with Lakhi (the snake man of CWRC) went to the spot and found a full grown 2 meter long Monocled Cobra curled up in a corner of the store room. More than the snake the crowd gathered to see us and the snake did scare me. I knew the margin for error was very thin and if anything goes wrong, the mob won't spare us! I calm my nerves down and had a small chat with Lakhi about the capture procedure and got on to our job. Our initial easy to use 'pipe & sack' methods failed instantly and due the mob pressure we were forced to tackle the snake with snake stick. After 15 minutes of high adrenalin rush, running around and breaking into sweat (though it was cold October evening!) the snake was safely bagged and we fled.

Me feeding one of the calves

The time at CWRC with the rescued animals at the facility were equally fulfilling. I spent an adequate amount of time with the rescued elephant herd (which were hand raised there) and it helped me to understand their behavior better and I learned to give these wild animals the respect that they deserve.But I still remember how baffled I was on the first day when I was given different jars of milk to feed particular elephant calves, because all of them looked the same to me other than a minor height difference but thanks to Traun (the elephant man of CWRC) and other animal keepers, within a couple of days I could identify every individual calf by their names even at night.

I cherish all such memories of CWRC. Afternoon spent in discussing different rescue issues with Dr. Boro (then Vet. of CWRC) and sharing lunch with animal keepers. They are truly a bunch of dedicated people to ensure the well being of distressed wild animals.

The time spent at CWRC provided me the base to carry on with my mission to rescue and rehabilitate wild animals in pain, which I now realize is going to be a lifelong journey. Am thankful to WTI for allowing me to do so!