BENGALURU: People in Wilson Garden were quite upset on Wednesday as their efforts to save a Schedule-2 protected wildlife species – a Rat Snake — went in vain. They waited for two hours, but no ambulance arrived to shift the injured reptile to the hospital.
Not just snakes, Bonnet Macaques, peacocks, Pariah Kites and other wild animals have been perishing on the streets of Bengaluru due to non-availability of ambulances. Although the BBMP has an exclusive ambulance just for wildlife that has been plying for the past five years, it is not being used due to lack of fuel.
Activists say that for the last one-and-a-half years, the BBMP forest division has failed to fill up the fuel tank, resulting in many animals dying due to lack of treatment. In another incident on Wednesday, Jayaraj, a wildlife volunteer with BBMP, carried an injured peacock on his bike from Bommanahalli to Bannerghatta.
On Wednesday, residents of Wilson Garden tried desperately to save a Rat Snake that had been brutally hit by a vehicle near a Brand Factory showroom. When they tried contacting BBMP’s forest division, they found the official unresponsive, and finally, called up the honorary wildlife warden, who immediately turned up to take care of the reptile. However, to their dismay, they found that the ambulance was not available, and the snake died before it could be taken to Bannerghatta Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre.
Prasad, a resident of Wilson Garden, told TNIE that he called the BBMP official many times, but they failed to send the ambulance. He added, “The snake was seriously injured. A few residents picked it up and put it on the side of the road. The behaviour of BBMP forest officials was appalling.”
Bemoaning the attitude of the BBMP, wildlife activists said, “This is a Schedule-2 animal and as per the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, it has to undergo postmortem and be cremated as per protocol in the presence of the ACF. However, the deputy range forest officer, Jayanagar, did not do anything, as he claimed it did not come under his purview.”
A Prasanna Kumar, honorary wildlife warden, Bengaluru (Urban), the authorised officer as per WPA, 1972, managed to transport the body of the snake in another vehicle, and also got the postmortem done by the government veterinary officer. Kumar said, “Bengaluru needs eight ambulances for all 198 wards, and BBMP has a budget of Rs 40 lakh to purchase vehicles. However, only four ambulances were purchased. Only one was earmarked for wildlife, which is not enough.”
Added to this, the nine wildlife rescuers of the BBMP Wildlife Rescue cell have not received their monthly wages for the past three years. In a bid to resolve this, the then-BBMP commissioner had written to the Chief Wildlife Warden and given permissions, and also asked to hand over rescue/rehabilitation work to volunteers.
A BBMP official said that the Rs 13,500 per month that is supposed to be paid to rescuers has not been released. All nine rescuers have been using their own money for transportation of animals.