BENGALURU: The forest department’s appeal in June to recruit 12 more veterinarians by creating additional posts to attend to cases in the forests and zoos of Karnataka is awaiting clearance by Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who also holds the forest, environment and ecology portfolio.
“We had placed the proposal before the chief minister, but the matter is yet to come up for discussion. We are seeking his time to present our case to address the requirements,” said a senior forest department official, seeking anonymity.
The official said, “There are at present 24 sanctioned posts for veterinarians and all are occupied. Of these, 12 are engaged in zoos and 12 in the forest department. We have requested the CM to increase the total number to 36. We have also sought 40 assistant veterinarians. This will help not only to handle the current pressure, but also in future when the demand for veterinarians increases.”
The department raised the demand in the wake of the rising incidents of man-animal conflict and increasing need to capture, rehabilitate and treat animals. The veterinarians at present juggle between districts and centres. They are also deployed for long working hours during elephant capture operations and rescue and capture operations in national parks and tiger reserves.
A veterinarian attached to the elephant camps and forest areas said, “Deploying additional staff is the need of the hour. However, the department must also ensure that the staffers are not frequently transferred. This affects the medical treatment of animals.”
The veterinarian said there is also a need to ensure that the veterinarians appointed are specialised in darting. At present, since all veterinarians are not skilled in darting, a guard or a range forest officer is assigned the task. This delays the time of operation as quick decisions on the size and aggression of the animals cannot be judged by other staffers. The veterinarians must also be made accountable in cases of the deaths of the animals due to unscientific practices.