Prompt action on the part of the local farmers near Chiklod forest range in Madhya Pradesh’s Raisen district saved the life of a wild sloth bear cub and reuniting it with its mother.
Officials of the Van Vihar National Park, Madhya Pradesh Forest Department and Wildlife SOS were part of this three-hour-long rescue operation.
The cub which was a just a year-and-a-half old female had got caught in a barbed-wire fence surrounding a sugarcane farm in Chiklod forest range. Its cries of anguish and pain alerted the local farmers in the early hours of Friday and seeing the plight of the animal they immediately got in touch with the Forest Department.
A joint team from Van Vihar National Park and Wildlife SOS in Bhopal was immediately sent for the rescue operation and they drove 45 kilometres to reach the site. Following a quick assessment of the situation, Wildlife SOS Veterinary Officer, Dr. Rajat Kulkarni decided to immobilise the cub to help in separating carefully its entangled fur from the barbed wire.
After the disentangling the cub, it was medially examined on-site by Dr. Gurudutt Sharma from Satpura Tiger Reserve and Dr. Prashant Deshmukh from Wildlife Conservation Trust.
The animal had not sustained any injuries and was declared fit to return to the wild and since the mother bear was sighted in the vicinity, the cub was released in the same area to enable her to reunite with her mother.
Sharing details about the cub, Dr. Rajat Kulkarni, Wildlife Veterinary Officer said, “The cub is a female, estimated to be around 1.5 years old. I am glad that Wildlife SOS was able to assist the Forest Department and Van Vihar National Park officials with timely intervention to save the bear’s life.”
In villages bordering forest, animals like wild boars, nilgai and sloth bears often enter farms in search of food like fruits and berries grown by the villagers. Barbed wire fences are erected around the farms to protect the crops and fruits from damage but many times the animals get trapped in them leading at times to their death.
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