Teaching a sea eagle to fly and conducting day long surgery on an Olive Ridley turtle are just some of the exemplary cases taken up by the staff of the International Animal Rescue (IAR) at Assagao. ‘The Navhind Times’ took a trip to this centre and literally got a bird’s eye view of the cases currently being worked on.
BY ARTI DAS | NT NETWORK
These days if you visit the International Animal Rescue (IAR) at Assagao, you will be welcomed by a sea eagle. Christened by the staff as ‘Egu’, this sea eagle was rescued by an animal lover from Candolim. “It was brought in the month of March. It suffered an injury on its left leg. It is still here with us as she is quite small and since she has been away from her mother all these days, she does not know to fly and also can not hunt for food. We are now training her to fly and after the monsoons we plan to take her near the sea so she can learn to catch prey as that is very important” says Dr Astrid Almeida who mentions rescuing a creature like the sea eagle was definitely not part of their training but now they are learning with field knowledge and expert advice.
The IAR is a centre which predominantly provides services to domestic animals but today, with increasing cases of wild animals needing help, the IAR has extended its reach. The young team of 30, at IAR treats these animals with utmost care, concern and commitment.
“Wild animals suffer from tremendous stress, like the deer could die of a heart attack while handling as they are not used to humans” says Dr Astrid. She informs that they receive at least two cases per month of wild animals needing help. They are mostly referred by the Goa Forest Department or sometimes by individuals.
Recently, they had released a civet cat which was rescued by the Forest Department. Sainath Shirodkar of the forest department mentions that this animal was found at a home in Uccassaim. She says, “The civet cat’s tail was stuck in between a door and the wall. She was there along with her mother and another small civet. On sensing someone approaching, they took flight except for this particular civet cat that was trapped.”
The most interesting case they have come across till now is that of the Olive Ridley turtles. These turtles are under threat due to habitat destruction and the forest department in the state has been actively conducting various conservation programmes at a few coastal areas in Goa.
From the month of May, till today, the IAR have operated on three such turtles. They all are brought in with a similar injury, that of a broken flip. When the first turtle was brought in, in the month of May, it was a one-of-its-kind case at IAR, but they took this as a challenge. Dr Astrid says, “The first case was of a turtle with a broken flip. It was first operated at the government veterinary hospital but the treatment was not done properly and thus its wounds had not healed. Our team then did research and we contacted some Olive Ridley experts from abroad through emails. A team of six, including Dr Nikhil Prabhugaonkar, an orthopedic operated on this turtle.”
The surgery lasted for an entire day. In these types of surgeries administrating anesthesia is very important. “During the post surgery time, we had to keep the turtle moist and also feed it through a tube with a paste of prawns as the turtle was not in a condition to eat. But, even after the first surgery the wounds were not healing and at that time Dr Nikhil had gone to Chennai for the turtle conference. There he shared this case and many of the experts suggested removing the bone. We then conducted a second surgery and now it is fine and will be released soon” says Dr Astrid.
The success of the first case, gave the team the required confidence and motivation to treat the subsequent ones. “We had received another similar case but we could not save that turtle. After the autopsy of that turtle we found that it had not eaten for almost 10 days” says Dr Astrid. When asked what is the reason as to why these turtles are subject to such injuries, she suggests that this could be so because of the propellers of the trawlers. “It is mainly due to fishing activities” adds Astrid.
Now these two turtles are kept at IAR and are managed financially by the forest department. But, the requirement of these species is different. “We get in sea water for them and change it every day and have made for them a make shift pond. They get fresh prawns and squids as their meal” quips Dr Astrid.
The staff of IAR bid an emotional farewell when these animals have to be released into their habitat. Dr Astrid describes the feeling, “All feel so connected with them as they have spent a lot of time here with us, and, with time, have developed a bond.”
