Help rescue wild animals and birds in India

The diversity in wildlife is vast and beyond comprehension, while tigers, rhino and elephants take the limelight, several other species go unnoticed. Bats are one such lesser known yet important species. More than 1,300 species of Bats exist on earth and play a vital ecological role for maintaining the ecosystem and human economies. Batsthough are not ‘flagship’ species, are considered “keystone species” in tropical and desert ecosystems due to their excellent pollination and seed dispersal abilities. Even bat droppings, also called guano is also a valuable rich fertilizer. These resources are valuable in restoring cleared or damaged rainforests. Studies have shown that seeds dropped by bats can account for up to 95% of the first new growth. India has around 128 species of bats, most of themshare space with us and yet stay unambiguous. Still very less is known about their conservation importance in India.

Last month, most of the subcontinent experienced a strong monsoon with cyclonic winds. Pune district in Maharashtra also received heavy downpour leading to a surge in bat pups falling off trees. The turbulent weather made it next to impossible for mother bats to forage, leaving pups abandoned, forcing pups to fall off their roosting trees. The drastic fluctuation in temperature was further affecting the fragile young ones. Batsbeing slow breeders, the unprecedented weather threatened the survival of the resident population. Thus there was an urgent need to rescue and rehabilitate these little ones before the situation got grave. Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) with your support initiated a project with a local rehabilitator Ms.Devna Arora, to help rescue the abandoned and injured bat pups. With the help of a long stick and a net, a total of 8 individuals, belonging to species Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bat (Cynopterus brachyotis) Fulvous Fruit Bat, (Rousettus leschenaultia) Greater Short-nosed Fruit Bat, (Cynopterus sphinx) were rescued from a tree, devastated by the wind. They were as young as 3- 5 weeks old, weak and injured due to the fall from the trees. Under veterinary care, the constant chill in the weather was also making it difficult for the young ones to cope, so a state of the artbird brooder/incubator was provided to help regulate the body temperature of the pups to speed up the recovery process. Unfortunately, two didn’t survive as they were very weak and severely hypothermic. The other six individuals responded well to treatment and recovered from fractures and hypothermia. In few weeks, under intense care and comfort, they were trying to slowly fly and began feeding on apple, banana etc. After a thorough scanning a soft release of the pups was initiated a week back. The bats were released and food was kept near the open window till they were comfortable flying away. Within few days the bats slowly got accustomed and returned only for feeding. We are slowly weaning them away till they learn to survive in the wild on their own. More bat pups and other distressed birds and animals are being taken care of, using the equipments provided.

We hope to address more such cases in India with your continued support

Links:

• Wild Buffalo Release
• Learning to Live Wild
• Bareilly ka Bagh