ADILABAD: Minister for Forest and Environment A Indrakaran Reddy inaugurated a Monkey Rescue, Rehabilitation and Sterilisation Centre near Chincholi village in Nirmal district on Sunday. The centre is the first-of-its-kind in South India and has been built at a cost of Rs 2.25 crore.The Minister said monkeys were causing problems as they would enter human habitations and damage crops, and the new centre was going to prevent these issues.
With the help of gram panchayat officials, monkeys were transported to the centre in a phased manner. Doctors then sterilised the monkeys after which they were put in cages for observation, and after they recovered, they were left in a forest area.The team of veterinary doctors involved in the project visited a monkey sterilisation centre at Tutikandi near Shimla of Himachal Pradesh State and spent a week study all the processes involved in the process.
Min visits Harithavanam
Later, Indrakaran Reddy visited Harithavanam and oversaw the release of four mouse deer in the park which is spread over half an acre. The mouse deer, called Mushika Jinka in Telugu, is a small-sized deer and they are being reintroduced in Harithavanam, where currently there aren’t any such deer.
The project is aimed at the species’ conservation by enabling them to breed in a new habitat and then re-introducing them in forest areas. The project is being carried out in coordination with LACONES at a cost of `8 lakh.The mouse deer released in Harithavanam were transported from the Nehru zoological park in Hyderabad, and have been kept in an enclosure.
Three enclosures have been set up to phase the release of mouse deer into the wild. In the first enclosure, they will be kept for one to 14 days and food and water will be provided to them. In the second one, no food will be given and the animals have to feed by themselves on grass and whatever natural food is available in the enclosure. But water will be provided and the deer will be kept here for 15-29 days.
In the third one, no water and food will be provided and the enclosure will have a gate that leads out to the forest.
Mouse deer reintroduced
Four mouse deer, aka Mushika Jinka, were released into the Harithavanam, Nirmal, on Sunday. Mouse deer, which are small in size, are being reintroduced in the Harithavanam, where currently there aren’t any