A day with the animals
January 11th, 2006 | Published in Living, Nature & Wildlife, Personal, Photography | 19 Comments
On New Year’s Day, along with Usha for company, I headed out to WRRC (WildLife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center) on Banerghatta Road. I had been meaning to visit the centre for a while and decided that the 1st would be a good day to start.
First of course, I had to say hello to the rather handsome Saba at Usha’s place.
Most of our adventure was confined in navigating the awful 15 kms stretch to the Centre (ironically a.k.a. Banerghatta Road). This was my first exposure to the road and I must say I was shocked. I thought some of the city roads were bad. Now, I know why people complain so much about this particular stretch!
Anyway, since this post is not about roads let me come back to my topic at hand.
The Centre is situated a few kilometers from the Banerghatta Park. It is not easy to find and there are 2 approaches. We first tried one approach, which we had to abandon since there was too much water and I couldn’t quite put my Zen through the muck (it had already taken a bit of a bump). Finally, we took a detour of another 3 or 4 kilometres and finally reached WRRC.
The first guy to greet us was the handsome Tension who came and jumped on the window of the car and looked inside expectantly. A rather excited and friendly soul he turned out to be.
The Centre is run by CUPA and there are quite a few volunteers who also work here including Abhisheka who travels all the way from Majestic to work with injured animals. And how do you get from the main road to the centre, we ask her curiously. (It’s about a 5 km stretch). Oh, I walk, she says rather matter of factly. What dedication!
We also met Saleem Hamid*, who spends much of his time here helping injured birds, diseased animals and displaced reptiles. We watched Saleem in the monkey cage with some amount of awe. He handled the monkeys (all in stages of recovery) like babies. They climbed on top of him, pulled his hair, played with his keys, while he patiently went about cleaning their cages and feeding them.
Then he took us to the barn owls enclosure where about 8 of them are recovering after being rescued from the ceiling of a building. The owls are recuperating and will be here till they are ready to be released again. We managed to spot one, who gave us one long stare and then went back to his upright sleep position. The rest were all inside their special cardboard houses doing what they do best in the day : sleeping!
There were a great many kites circling the sky above and one of the folks there informed us that they were mostly ones who had also been residents of the centre at some point of time. They keep coming back now for food and some tlc!
A couple of baby kites were also recuperating in another cage after having fallen off their nests. I spotted one of the building roof and inched closer (difficult since they tend to fly off at any indication of movement). He sat there while and looked out for food.
One lone parakeet in a cage was showing off by balancing himself off the ceiling. Apparently, the parakeet has been suffering from mental stress after being badly treated by the previous owners.
Saleem and a couple of other vets attend to a large python which has stopped eating for a few days. It has been brought from the park to the centre. Usha shudders as she sees the size of the python. I think it’s a rather good looking specimen, but only from very far away and through the window.
Saleem and all the folks there do some really great work and help is always welcome, especially since everything happens through volunteers and contributions. Right now, the owls themselves cost about 600 per day to be fed and raised.
If you’re interested in contributing monetarily, you can get in touch with Saleem/Abhisheka or Smita. I have their numbers so drop in an email to anitabora5 at rediffmail dot com. Any help is most welcome.
*Saleem Hamid, an industrial photographer in Bangalore, is passionate about saving wildlife and giving sick and injured animals a second chance to live. He is a self-taught veterinarian practitioner and takes meticulous care of each animal that he handles. Despite his hectic schedule, he has set up a wildlife rehabilitation centre which he runs himself. He has specialized in working with confiscated reptiles and the management of traumatised and immuno-suppressed reptiles. In spite of being bitten twice by cobras, he continues in his wildlife rehabilitation efforts. His commendable work has made him a front runner in wildlife management and care in Bangalore.
Info courtesy: http://www.vmaaf.org/pages/awards_2002.htm
On the way back, On the way back, Usha spotted these beautiful pair of brahminy kites. They were perched on top of a tree rather high up, and this is the closest I could get.
January 12th, 2006 at 6:51 pm (#)
this is sooo cool Anita…i also love animals…DOGS esp..n contribute a lil bit to KRUPA in bangalore…thanks for providing info about WRRC.….…n hey SABA is adorable.…
January 12th, 2006 at 10:12 pm (#)
Taking care of animals is a very admirable thing. Kudos to all of you involved.
January 13th, 2006 at 1:31 pm (#)
a couple of days back there were around 50 kites circling the space near my office in millers road. At that precise moment a white necked bird (larger than a normal kite) came and started circling. I thought it was an eagle and rushed back into office to fetch my camera. Alas it was gone before I could click one. I was wondering “are there really eagles around here ?”. But now I know what they are. Brahminy kites.
Thanks a ton. It was the exact same thing as portrayed in the last snap. Maybe I will catch one of them on roll soon.
vasu
January 13th, 2006 at 6:45 pm (#)
Hi Anita,
It all happened through Orkut that i first came to know bout u’re blog and from then onwards m a regular reader :-) Being a nature and animal lover, i liked this article very much. The pictures that u add to this blog really makes it very interesting. Keep up the good work!!
PS:
Very soon m coming up with my personal blog and dear… u’re the inspiration!!
January 13th, 2006 at 8:31 pm (#)
You do love your animals!
Been thinking of starting a group blog on NE…
January 15th, 2006 at 11:56 am (#)
The pictures are great,as usual.
I still can’t get over the way saleem was cleaning the monkey cages not hassled one bit with 3 monkeys jumping all over him — one pulling off the rubber band from his hair and another snatching away a bunch of keys. And the expert way in which he coaxed that angry monkey back into the cage without losing his patience. It is a lot of tough work and genuine love for animals.
Ya, i see that python pretty often in my dreams these days ( shudder…shudder…)
and thanks for such beautiful pictures of my son!
January 16th, 2006 at 4:02 pm (#)
Hi Anita.. Yesterday, along with my friend Rohit, i went to Bannerghatta National Park. After the magnificent grand safari, i thought i’d check out WRRC and find out how we can help them as a volunteer in their noble efforts. To my surprise, i found the same water logging on the way where one of the CUPA car was stuck. We turned our bike and took another route (we were already prepared for the same after reading u’re post). Again, the first one to greet us was adorable Tension :-) followed by his partner with a broken but healing leg.
I was really touched by the dedication and love of these people for sick and needy animals. A lady who was working there showed us around. I wanted to know how we can help by being volunteer but since Saleem was busy preparing for release of two monkeys, he told us to meet on Saturday noon and gave his mobile number. Looking forward to help them in their noble cause.
January 16th, 2006 at 5:28 pm (#)
hello there…u have a wonderful blog.…I loved this post the most.
January 17th, 2006 at 1:34 pm (#)
Hey great post! Next time please call me.
January 18th, 2006 at 4:24 pm (#)
Wow! Amazing trip! I wish to do the same coz me too love the animals.
January 20th, 2006 at 11:48 am (#)
Lovely pics!!
I think you really love animals,i love them to.……
Wonderful post.
:)
January 23rd, 2006 at 8:02 am (#)
heyy..
nice stuff.. i mean the all of em..
Just A Little Something
Indian Bloggers List
Anita’s Portfolio
The world through my viewfinder
Tsunami Help India
do chk out mine whn free.. am a small time charcoal artist.. more in here..
http://roadhouseblues99.blogspot.com/
January 24th, 2006 at 2:13 pm (#)
Hi Anita,
Just came across your site and liked the photos and the travel.…this came at a time when I was cribbing that being a girl, I could not go anywhere alone etc…
So it was a ray of hope…
Thx
January 24th, 2006 at 2:14 pm (#)
Sorry,
You can check out my blogsite at http://pinktints.blogspot.com — there is a reason why I began this site which is mentioned at the end…
Akila
February 1st, 2006 at 4:28 pm (#)
mehak: that’s really nice! saba is adorable :)
nithya: indeed a great job they do everyday.
vasu: next time :) tell me if you manage to get them!
divesh: it was really nice to know that you made the journey all the way there and visited the centre. i just wish it was someplace closer :) and the roads weren’t so bad. but seeing the dedication of folks who work there, i shouldn’t crib. did you manage to visit the place and talk to saleem?
thanks bhavana.
suman: call you do to what? you’re probably be busy at brigade fuel ;)
neethika, jay: thanks!
thanks rupesh! will definitely check it out :)
akila: it’s definitely possible. you just need to be a slightly careful, but there’s little one can’t do!
November 11th, 2006 at 7:41 pm (#)
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March 3rd, 2007 at 3:32 pm (#)
Hu ewlikf!
March 4th, 2007 at 7:44 pm (#)
Really a nice post by Anita.
I was searching for some Rehabilitaion center since I got a couple of read eard sliders.
I want to find out if there is any law in india agaist dealing in sliders (or any turtles/tortoise) less than 4 in.
I’m now wiating for my next weekend and see if I can visit WRRC to find out what can be done with those two lil sliders, I’ll be more than happy if we can send them back to their country or can release in India somewhere where they find their community (slim chances). if anyone has got any info on this, you can write me in ketandp at msn dot com.
Thank you
March 19th, 2007 at 5:15 am (#)
I love Animals Specially these!
P.S. I am not sure if I spelled specially right!