Bengaluru, May 12: The forest department is finding it difficult to handle cases of man-animal conflict and launch rescue operations due to severe shortage of veterinarians.
The department has now only three veterinarians on deputation as against the sanctioned 11 posts.
The three veterinarians are working in Bandipur, Nagarahole and BRT tiger reserves. Apart from them, a veterinarian has been posted at Bannerghatta wildlife rescue centre and another ar Shimoga circle – Dr Vinay who is undergoing treatment in a private hospital in Bengaluru after he was attacked by a wild elephant during a rescue operation.
A senior forest official admitted to the crisis and said that all tiger reserves, wildlife sanctuaries, national parks and forest circles need veterinarians. Going by the requirement, there is a need for 45 veterinarians.
The forest department gets veterinarians from the animal husbandry department for five years. Later based on their performance and department’s requirements, their tenure is extended or new veterinarians received on deputation.
“The department needs specialists but does not hire them. They invite applications for vacant posts. But now, no one applies because of work pressure,” sources said.
On an average, a veterinarian travels 200 Kms a day attending to injured animals and taking part in rescue operations which stretch for weeks. They also have to send regular reports to the National Tiger Conservation Authority and the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change,” confided a veterinarian.
“Due to staff crunch, NTCA protocols on rescue, rehabilitation and postmortem are not followed. As per NTCA norms, there should be one vet for every forest patch. These veterinarians does not have assistants. There are instances where veterinarians from Tamil Nadu have been rushed to Karnataka,” a senior forest official explained.
EOM
