Karwar: A voluntary youth organisation in Uttara Kannada district is striving quietly without fanfare, to protect the endangered wild animals, rescue those entering human inhabited areas, leave them safely back into the forest and spread awareness on the importance of protecting wildlife.
The region with dense tropical forests has many species of birds, reptiles, mammals and grassland animals. A group of friends, who formed a voluntary organisation recently, rush when they get information about endangered animals in their territory and involve themselves in life threatening rescue operations.
On receiving information, they reach the area in quick time and have succeeded in rescuing a lot of animals till date including the most poisonous King Cobra. Some of them underwent training programme under the watchful eyes of an expert snake catcher from Goa named Amartya Sen to hone their skills. Some members of the team have even touched new milestones in terms of numbers in rescuing reptiles.
If poisonous snakes enter homes and human inhabited areas, they have managed to catch them with ease and release them back in to the wild. They also nurse injured animals till complete recovery and have even succeeded in rescuing leopards fallen in deep wells.
People in the district are amazed by their voluntary selfless services which is not only about saving human lives, but rescuing wild animals as well.
Uttara Kannada district is a biodiversity hotspot with abundant flora and fauna comprising large species of birds and animals. The animals include tiger, leopard, bear, tiger, squirrel, wolf, deer, bison and elephant apart from innumerable reptiles.
Team comprising Yalla Naik Hamani, Nagaraj Shet, C R Naik, Ashok Naik and Mahesh Naik work tirelessly using their own resources and their mission to create awareness to protect wildlife is definitely admirable.
