AHMEDABAD: A weak cub whose leg was infested with maggots after he got injured was brought for treatment to Sasan outside Gir sanctuary. After a week long treatment, in a heart-warming scene, the cub was reunited with his mother.
There was rejoice all over as the cub, when released, straight away walked towards the mother who recognized him through his smell and took him back into the pride. Forest officials say that this kind of rescue and treatment operation by taking a cub away from the wild is rare.
Deputy conservator of forest Sandeep Kumar said, "Usually in case of cubs in the wild, the injuries don't get easily noticed and they surface only when the body is recovered. But in Gir forest, it is vigil of the beat guard who are monitoring the forest daily. The beat guard immediately informed the rescue team."
The mother accepted the cub after smelling it. (TOI photo)
Kumar said that on observing the cub, it was decided to rescue it and bring it to the rescue centre at Sasan for treatment. However, caging the cub was not possible as it would not be lured by the trap and hence it was decided to trap the cub in the ring cage. A special cage was set up and when the entire pride walked out of it, the team immediately closed the gates of the cage and trapped the cub.
Kumar said that according to the guards, it was seen that there were four cubs of the same age in the group and the remaining three used to take the feed leaving behind this cub. The cub was weak and then got an injury which resulted in maggots. While the cub was away the lioness used to search for it initially but when it did not find it, she gave up.
However, after the treatment the biggest worry was to reunite the baby back in the group. "Usually on several occasions, the cub is left to die and is not accepted back by the pride. But in this case, as soon as we released the cub, it started walking towards the pride. The mother too walked towards the cub and started smelling it.
After smelling the cub, the mother drove it in the pride and the other two lioness and the three other cubs too came close and accepted him. The department is now constantly monitoring the cub and has observed that the mother is feeding it first.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Reunion-of-mother-son-in-Gir-jungle/articleshow/49425902.cms
No comments:
Post a Comment