Waiting hopefully on injured ele Dhara, displaced from her herd during massive flooding in India

“Donations, no matter how small, gratefully received to help pay for this little elephants vet fee’s & therapy!”

Dhara, an elephant calf, came to us on June 28^th.

She had been hit by a car as she rushed across the highway in her efforts to find higher ground. Dhara is one of thousands of wild animals stricken by the deadly monsoon season we’re experiencing in the northeast Indian state of Assam.

I may have already seen hundreds of baby elephants, but seeing our International Fund for Animal Welfare and Wildlife Trust of India veterinarians taking an x-ray image of an elephant calf was truly a rare sight.

Dhara is now being cared for at IFAW’s Wildlife Rescue Center in the outskirts of Kaziranga National Park. The x-ray showed that Dhara is suffering from a knee dislocation on her left front leg.

She is about eight months old, and was found alone.

We believe she was displaced from her herd during the floods in the park.

An iron-reinforced cast was fixed on her leg to immobilize the joint for the next 21 days. The vets at the Center will review the wound after the stipulated time to see the progress.

In the meantime the calf is being looked after by the vets, animal keepers and two volunteers from the UK. They provide the calf with milk nine times a day and a healthy dose of food supplements.

Dhara pokes her head out of the nursery building. Credit: IFAW/S.Bararuah

Dhara is very active despite the pain in her leg. She always keeps on exploring the enclosure and tries to climb up to the window to peep through and see if there is someone out there with food. And when the food comes she starts shouting out impatiently.

She looks awfully cute throwing baby tantrums to her keepers.

Even though she’s just a little calf, I felt that it was an elephantine task to tranquilize it, transport it to the center’s clinic, X ray her and fit an iron cast on her leg.

Now we’re all waiting for the 21^stday of treatment when the vets will remove the cast to see the progress. I hope she regains her strength and is able to walk freely soon.

Stay tuned for more updates on Dhara coming soon. Many have asked how they can help support our efforts, and you can do so by donating here.

If you can donate, no matter how small, please click this link & follow the story of little Dhara:-http://www.ifaw.org/united-kingdom/

News Link:-http://www.ifaw.org/united-kingdom/news/waiting-hopefully-injured-ele-dhara-displaced-her-herd-during-massive-flooding-india

Indian state to let forest guards shoot poachers on sight

“AT last, they are taking the dwindling number of tigers seriously. Kill or be killed, or, sprag on those that do & earn yourself a nice little purse! Considering how little the hunters are paid, they would be better off grassing on the real killers!”

Maharashtra government says killing poachers will no longer be considered a crime after eight tiger deaths in the state this year.

A western Indian state has declared war on animal poaching, allowing forest guards to shoot hunters on sight to curb attacks on tigers, elephants and other wildlife.

The government in Maharashtra says injuring or killing suspected poachers will no longer be considered a crime.

Forest guards should not be “booked for human rights violations when they have taken action against poachers”, the Maharashtra forest minister, Patangrao Kadam, said on Tuesday. The state will also send more rangers and jeeps into forests, and will offer secret payments to informers who give tips about poachers and animal smugglers, he said.

India has about half of the world’s estimated 3,200 tigers in dozens of wildlife reserves set up since the 1970s. But illegal poaching remains a serious threat, with tiger parts sought in traditional Chinese medicine fetching high prices on the black market.

According to the Wildlife Protection Society of India, 14 tigers have been killed by poachers in India so far this year – one more than for all of 2011. The tiger is considered endangered, with its habitat range shrinking more than 50% in the last quarter-century and its numbers declining rapidly from the 5,000-7,000 estimated in the 1990s, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Eight of this year’s tiger poaching deaths in India occurred in Maharashtra, including one whose body was found last week chopped into pieces with its head and paws missing in Tadoba tiger reserve. Forest officials have also found traps in the reserve, where about 40 tigers live.

Tiger parts used in traditional Chinese medicine are prized on the black market, but dozens of other animals are also targeted by hunters across India. Rhinos are prized for their horns and male elephants for their tusks, while other big cats such as leopards are hunted or poisoned by villagers afraid of attacks on their homes or livestock.

Encounters are rare between guards and poachers, who generally hunt the secretive and nocturnal big cats at night, according to Maharashtra’s chief wildlife warden, SWH Naqvi.

“We hardly ever come face-to-face with poachers,” he said on Wednesday, predicting few instances when guards might fire at suspects.

Instead, he predicted that the state’s offer to pay informers from a new government fund worth about 5m rupees ($90,000) would be more effective in curbing wildlife crime. “We get very few tips, so this will really help,” Naqvi said.

News Link:-http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/may/23/indian-state-forest-guards-poachers