No takers for injured monkey in city

NAGPUR: When it comes to monkeys, the forest department always adopts an apathetic approach. Now, there seem to be no takers for the bullet-hit monkey who was operated upon 16 days ago and is since then on the premises of Veterinary Hospital and College at Alankar Square.
The monkey was shot with an air gun some eight months back and had been carrying the bullet in its body till it was found in an injured condition and shifted to the veterinary hospital.A team headed by veterinary surgeon Dr Shirish Upadhayay operated on the animal to remove the bullet and it was declared out of danger, but not fit enough to be released in the wild.
The responsibility of post-operative care of the monkey, which is listed under Schedule-II of the Wildlife Protection Act, rests with the forest department, which is blatantly shirking from it. It should also be noted that the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) had also directed the principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) to take appropriate action in the case.
However, when animal activists alerted the department about the monkey’s condition, officials tried to pass the buck to Maharajbagh Zoo authorities on Friday. In response, zoo in-charge Dr SS Bavaskar clearly said putting a sick animal on display was against the norms of Central Zoo Authority.
“Forest officials treat the zoo like a dumping ground for animals. When they have all the facilities and manpower, why are they dumping the injured animal on us?” he said. He further pointed out that the department spent Rs62 lakh on the transit treatment centre at Seminary Hills but was still looking to the zoo for sheltering animals.
People For Animals (PFA) activist Asha Dave, who had rescued the monkey, told TOI that deputy conservator of forest Deepak Bhatt gave a cold shoulder when she went to talk about the monkey’s condition. “He was quite evasive and shifted the matter to range forest officer and later to Maharajbagh zoo. The officials are not at all concerned about protecting wildlife animals other than tigers,” she lamented.
Founder director of Wild-CER Dr Bahar Baviskar said the monkey was presently not in proper condition. “There is no separate net and the animal is also surrounded by dogs in the hospital. There are chances that it might die due to stress. The department needs to look beyond tigers and leopards,” he added.
Seminary Hills range forest officer (RFO) SS Kolankar said the department did not have space to keep the monkey. “Our treatment centre has not yet started but we are planning to inaugurate it next month with the chief minister as guest. As Maharajbagh zoo authorities have refused, we are now looking for other options to shelter the animal,” he added.