For a State which boasts of harbouring the highest number of elephants in the country (6,395) and the second highest number of tigers (563) besides an increase in capture and relocation of leopards, there are only eight veterinarians spread across 13 forest circles over 31 districts.
What is worse, all the vets are on deputation from the Animal Husbandry Department as there is no separate cadre for wildlife veterinarians in the Forest Department.
But given the intensity of human-animal conflict in south Karnataka region and parts of Western Ghats, the clamour for urgency of creating a dedicated cadre of wildlife vets within the Forest Department is growing.
The need for such a cadre is imperative as specialisation gained in treatment of wild animals, understanding their behaviour and harnessing the field experience of wildlife vets in handling conflict situations also comes in handy in the long-term conservation of wildlife, according to officials.
While the sanctioned strength of vets for the 13 forest circles is eight, only five or six are at any given point of time tend to be in the field and the rest of the posts don’t get filled as not all are willing to work in forests and with wildlife.
A report on creating a State Wildlife Health Monitoring, Rescue and Forensic Department was submitted by the in-service staff to the government years ago and it is gathering dust, and the practice of deputing veterinarians from the Animal Husbandry Department continues.
Dr. H.S. Prayag, veterinarian attached to the Forest Department, said a dedicated wing or cadre of vets in the department had its own advantages as it would help bring in the field experience, specialisation gained and knowledge acquired by vets in handling complex situation in the wild. But if one is deputed from the Animal Husbandry Department they would be liable to be transferred back to the parent department and the experience gained in the field would be lost, he said.
Dr. Prayag pointed out that Madhya Pradesh recently created a separate cadre for veterinarians in the Forest Department and Karnataka which was known to adopt good practices in conservation, should take a cue and create a dedicated wing of wildlife veterinarians.
A section of senior officials too batted for it in view of escalation of conflict situations in the State. The frequency of human-elephant conflict and the rise in tiger and leopard attacks around Madikeri-Hassan and on the outskirts of Bandipur-Nagarahole belt put pressure on the existing staff who were constantly on the move from one place to another, according to officials.
Sometimes the combing operation to capture an elephant or a tiger stretched for weeks and a veterinarian had to be with the team all the time for tranquilising, providing the antidote and ensuring that the captured animal did not get unduly stressed. But if the veterinarian was transferred the field experience was lost, officials said.
Administering the right dosage of tranquiliser is equally important and comes with knowledge and experience and a newcomer could inject an overdose that could be detrimental to the health of the animal, according to officials.
A separate cadre is also imperative for continuous monitoring of the forests for any possible outbreak of disease which, a veterinarian on deputation, may loathe to take it up.
Whether the State celebrating Wildlife Week will address such key issues plaguing the Forest Department or will gloss it over and be content in holding “awareness rallies” on conservation or in conducting painting contest for children, remains to be seen.
