Last week members of India’s Wildlife SOS got a call from Delhi police saying that workers at an under construction bridge in Delhi had spotted a strange animal struggling in a well. The team found the animal to be a porcupine, and endangered species protected under the Wildlife Protection act 1972.
The under-construction Signature Bridge at Wazirabad in North Delhi was suddenly centre of attention last week when workers spotted a crested porcupine struggling to stay afloat in an 18m-deep well. The workers called the police, which in turn called members of the city based animal rescue group, Widlife SOS.
“It was a rare sight to see the porcupine in water. We saw it struggling to stay alive. The rescue operation took over two hours. The animal was tired and we had to gently manoeuvre it with nets and animal rescue equipment to bring it to the edge of the water. Tired of struggling to stay afloat, it would have drowned had we not rescued it on time,” said Munish, one of the three rescue workers.
It took the rescuers more than a couple of hours to rescue the drowning animal. Finally by 2.00 am Tuesday, they were successful in rescuing it out of the water. The porcupine was later released in a nearby forest area.
“Being a wild animal, the porcupine was obviously traumatized by its ordeal. It dashed for cover the moment we released it,” said Abhishek, another member of the rescue team. Kamal was its third member.
The co-founder of Wildlife SOS Kartick Satyanarayan, said how people were ignorant about wild animals living so close to their urban homes.
“We often don’t realize the rich biodiversity that Delhi’s habitat and forests comprise. Urbanization and loss of natural habitat endangers the very existence of species like porcupine. It is protected under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 and is an endangered animal.”
For the porcupine the SOS call was heard and its life thankfully saved.
The Wildlife SOS Helpline runs only through private donations and can be reached on 9871963535
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Article reference: TOI
Image of the rescued porcupine via Wildlife SOS
