About Wildlife SOS
Wildlife S.O.S is a non profit charitable organization registered under the Indian
Societies Registration Act of 1860. It was established with the objective of assisting
the authorities to protect and conserve wildlife in India.
What we do ( Our Projects )
1) Eradication of 'Bear Dancing'
Wildlife S.O.S has been working since 1995 to help eradicate the illegal and brutal
practice of Dancing Bears which is the one of the root causes for the indiscriminate
poaching of Bear cubs in the wild. This conservative effort has been sustainable
because Wildlife S.O.S is also rehabilitating the communities that dance the bears
while providing rehabilitation for the rescued Dancing Bears, and facilitating alternate
employment.
Wildlife S.O.S is directly assisting the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department to implement
the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 and has helped remove the dancing sloth bears
from the streets of Agra and surrounding areas. Several other states in India like
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh have also followed
suit, and are now collaborating with Wildlife S.O.S to solve the dancing bear problems
in their states.
Wildlife S.O.S has rescued over 392 Dancing Bears and has provided rehabilitation
opportunities to the Kalandar families that have surrendered their bears. We have
also set up a monitoring system to ensure the families do not get involved in bear
dancing again.
Photo: Dancing bear with kalaldar
To help the community at large, the initiatives adopted by Wildlife S.O.S include:
- Starting of training centres for kalandars for Sari embroidery, carpet weaving and
tailoring.
- The younger generations of kalandars are educated. The school fees, uniforms and
books come subsidized by WSOS.
- Health care camps and mobile health clinics will be set up in the near future.
Today Wildlife S.O.S operates four sloth bear rescue and conservation centers in
India in collaboration with the State Forest departments as below:
- Agra Bear Rescue Facility in collaboration with the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department.
This is the world's largest sloth bear rescue and rehabilitation centre.
- Bannerghatta Bear Rescue Facility in collaboration with the Karnataka Forest Department.
- Hyderabad Transit Facility in collaboration with the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department.
- Bhopal Bear Rescue Facility in collaboration with the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department.
Photo: Rescued bears in Agra Bear Rescue Facility
2) Habitat conservation project
Wildlife S.O.S has purchased agricultural land and turn it back into forest on the
fringe of existing protected forest areas to create corridors and contiguous forest
patches. This is being done in Koppal district, Karnataka where mining and dynamiting
of rocks has eroded the natural habitat of bears, pangolin, hyenas, mongoose and
leopards.
3) Moon Bear Rescue Project
Since the end of 2006, Wildlife S.O.S is working to save Himalayan Black Bears (commonly
referred to as "Moon Bear" from getting entrapped in Human-Animal Conflict Situations
in the state of Jammu and Kashmir in collaboration with the Jammu and Kashmir Wildlife
Department.
4) Captive animal welfare
Wildlife S.O.S is working in the area of captive animal welfare, as well, by setting
up a mobile clinic, to treat captive elephants used for temples, begging and for
religious ceremonies. Wildlife S.O.S is in the process of setting up a Rescue Shelter
and retirement home for distressed captive elephants from across Northern India
to give them immediate respite and relief from their suffering.
5) Anti-poaching unit – ' Forest Watch'
Forest Watch is a wildlife crime intelligence and investigation cell of Wildlife
S.O.S which uses a widespread intelligence network to uncover illegal wildlife trading
in various states in India and works closely with the State Forest Department and
the Police to bring the criminals to book. The cell has given information that has
lead to many seizures involving reptiles, leopard skins, turtles and bear cubs.
We have an experienced legal cell of wildlife criminal lawyers who work hard to
ensure the cases registered are dealt with in the best ways possible to protect
the interests of the local wildlife and Government.
6) Reptile Rescue cell
Wildlife S.O.S runs a Reptile Rescue cell in the capital under authorization from
the Wildlife Department to capture and rehabilitate urban wildlife that is still
present in Delhi and the surrounding environs. Displaced snakes and other wildlife
recovered from residential areas are released into safe and appropriate habitat.
7) Educational Workshops
Wildlife S.O.S has also been invited to Wildlife Institute of India, Central Zoo
Authority, Forest Academy Kanpur, and Forest Academy Dulapally – Hyderabad to give
talks and conduct workshops for forest officers and wildlife managers.
Wildlife SOS is conducting environmental education and awareness programs for school
children within Delhi and at the Bear Rescue Centres to ensure a more aware future
generation. This gives us a platform which allows us to educate the public about
the importance of conservation as well as combat the ignorance and unfounded superstitions
that often surround wild animals and also sensitize them to the subject of wild
animals being exploited in the name of Street Entertainment across India, which
include Bears, Snakes and Monkeys amongst others.
For students interested in attending Wildlife S.O.S Conservation
Education Workshops, please contact:
Vasudha Mehta (For Non-Delhi) at
vasudha@wildlifesos.org
Karishma Handa (For Delhi/NCR) karishma@wildlifesos.org
Contributions to Wildlife S.O.S: Wildlife S.O.S is
a registered non-profit charity in India and U.S.A. All donors from India and U.S.A
are exempted from Income Tax.
To support the work of Wildlife S.O.S, you can make a contribution online at wildlifesos.com/Donation/donationhome.htm
Contact Details for Wildlife S.O.S:
Kartick Satyanarayan and Geeta Seshamani
Designation: Co-founders, Wildlife S.O.S
Headquarters: D-210, Defence Colony, New Delhi-110024, India
E-mail: wsos@vsnl.com
Mobile : +91-9810114563
Website: www.wildlifesos.org
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