The state of Kerala in India has made plans to expand its wildlife rehabilitation facilities. The state is establishing a facility dedicated to treat injured animals and also to nurture orphan animals that will be rescued from the wild.
The Forest Department has put a proposal to set up a rescue and rehabilitation center in Thrissur on the lines of an existing center in Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, Mysuru in Karnataka. The rescue center in Mysuru treats wild animals like tigers, leopards, bears, wild dogs, etc.
The wildlife rehabilitation step is taken due to frequent incursions of injured wildlife animals into human habilitation. Due to such frequent incidents, the forest officials had to shift animals to faraway places for their treatment.
The department has now set its sights to establish the rehabilitation facilities, adjacent to the Puthur Zoological Park in Kerala. The rehabilitation center is being constructed in a way so that it can house at least 16 carnivores at a time.
The center will treat animals, the animals will be released back into the wild once they are treated. The center will rehabilitate animals that are permanently disabled. The location of the center will enable the department to enroll veterinarians that are attached to the zoological park.
The rehab facility provided is likely to meet its expenses based on the revenue earned from the zoological park. Currently, the state has a rescue and rehabilitation center for wild elephants at Thiruvananthapuram.
