In the heart of the District Forest Office(DFO) campus on Mettupalayam road is a recuperation retreat for injured feathered friends. As soon as you enter the retreat, you will be greeted by a batch of recovering peafowls in cages and the whistles of a few parakeets.
The birds, which have been rescued by the Coimbatore forest division and Animal Rescuers NGO, are nursed back to health here. Much like The Breakfast Club, it is a temporary safe haven for all kinds of injured animals such as rose-ringed parakeets, bats, Asian palm civets, barn owls, black kites, blue rock pigeons and Japanese quail, to name a few.
District Forest Officer(DFO) of Coimbatore forest division TK Ashok Kumar said, "Apart from people who call the toll free number 1800-42545456 to ask our staff to chase away wild elephants, we get calls to rescue peafowl and snakes too. Lately, we have been getting calls to rescue bonnet macaques. However, after the rescue, we usually release bonnet macaques in forest areas."
"Recently, we rescued seven parakeets near Sirumugai. The birds were abandoned by a bird seller after we tried to catch him. Parakeets should not be kept in houses," said DFO
Vinny Peter of Animals Rescuers said they are assisting the Coimbatore forest department for the last ten years and so far they have rehabilitated 110 species in which more than 10,000 birds have been released in their natural habitat.
"We mostly get birds with fractured legs, paralysed, abandoned chicks and we provide treatment after taking an x-ray and the veterinarian then suggests the diet for the birds. In most cases, we have found parakeets with feathers and beaks clipped for sale or trade. We request the people of Coimbatore to call the forest department number or the animal rescuers number 74488 72233 whenever they spot abandoned birds," said Vinny.