Vaccination, plantation drive and more for the region's birds and animals during wildlife week

To check the deteriorating environment by organizing various activities during the ongoing wildlife week (first week of October), several conservationists in Vidarbha have joined hands to do their bit for the ecology. While the forest department commenced proceedings by inaugurating a series of events earlier this week, other wildlife enthusiast are also leaving no stone unturned by conducting multi-pronged awareness campaigns, vaccination drives and more.
Battling fatal diseases
An organization that works for animal conservation in Central India has taken upon itself to vaccinate livestock across several villages in the region during the wildlife week. President of the group, Avril Khambatta Thakur, said, "The core committee of our organisation accompanied many students from the Nagpur Veterinary College to multiple villages, including Kolitwada, Maykepar and Sureara, in order to immunize cattle from foot and mouth disease (FMD), a couple of days back. With the support of the locals and resolute efforts, we were able to accomplish 100 per cent vaccination in these parishes. The next lot of students are now working in areas like Narhar, Ghat Pendri and Ghat Kokda for the same cause," and added, "The objective of this endeavour is to give the students hands-on knowledge of working on the field and introduce them to wildlife beyond classrooms. Through this vaccination campaign, we also aspire to battle the transmitting of FMD from cattle to wildlife, when they go for grazing in the wilds."
Special care for birds
If the cattle have found their saviours, so have the birds. An organization, with more than 8,000 members, which works for the welfare of these winged creatures is correcting the basic anomalies to help restore the natural habitats of these animals. Founder member, Avinash Londhe said, "In order to facilitate nesting and pollination and to also replenish the normal course of lives for the birds, we have initiated a campaign to plant as many as 8,000 saplings in and around the city. We have identified the seeds — like Amla, Jamun and Peepal — that serve this purpose and have been collecting appropriate samples for the past few months. We have already distributed hundreds of saplings free of cost across various locations in Nagpur including Raghuji Square and Sakkardara and also to several NGO’s, groups, schools and yoga mandals. We are also offering any help that people need to plant, grow and take care of these plants. Due to appalling levels of deforestation, birds are adversely affected. Thus through this drive, we aim to restore the bio-diversity." He went on to add, "It was heartening to see the support that the villagers in the outskirts of the city lent to our cause during our plantation drives. In fact, several of them helped us and even volunteered to take care of these young plants in the future."
Focus on tiger reserves
Being the Tiger Capital of the country, Nagpur's wildlife enthusiast are also doing their bit for the big cats. Informing about the Satpuda Foundation's endeavours for the wildlife week, assistant director Anoop Awasthi said, "We have connected wildlife with human-centric issues in order to raise awareness for the conservation of environment. Under this, we are campaigning against plastic materials and promoting cleanliness and sanitation across six forests in the region including Satpuda, Pench (Maharashtra) and Navegaon. Free medical camps, wildlife-based games and film shows will also be organized in the course of the week."
Taking a similar route, a wildlife organization, in association with the Melghat Tiger Project, has adopted a more relatable theme for their anti-poaching campaign. The head of the body Yadav Tarate said, "It makes more sense to target the habitat of tigers for such drives, so that the locals, who are more responsible for the welfare of these animals, are touched. The tribal people of the region call the tiger as kula in their language and their favourite game is volleyball. Thus we had organised a Kula Volleyball Tournament for the wildlife week which attracted more than 125 teams from 70 villages in the buffer area."