Delhi will get its 1st wild animal rescue centre in wildlife week next month

New Delhi

Delhi's first wild animal rescue centre at Rajokri will belaunched during the wildlife week next month, forest and wildlife departmentofficials said on Monday.

"The facility has come up on a 1.24-acre plot inRajokri in New Delhi district where a monkey rescue centre was lying abandoned.We have upgraded it to a wild animal rescue centre. It will be launched duringthe wildlife week," a forest department official said.

There was no such private or government facility in thenational capital. Until now, the forest department, along with wildlife NGOs,used to rescue stranded or injured animals and rehabilitate them at Asola BhattWildlife Sanctuary in South Delhi.

"The engagement with the NGOs to rescue animals willcontinue. A veterinarian from the South Delhi Forest Division will be deployedat the centre for their treatment," the official said. The animal rescuecentre will come up in place of a proposed facility for birds.

The authorities were not convinced about setting asidegovernment resources for birds, such as kites and pigeons, which are not ofgreat conservation value, according to officials. Now, wild animals rescued, suchas nilgai, mongoose, monkeys and jackals, and reptiles, will be treated here,the official said, adding that the centre will also be used for treating birds.

Earlier this year, the Ridge Management Board, ahigh-powered body tasked with protecting the Delhi Ridge, had approved theproposal for a wild animal rescue centre at Rajokri.