The Tamil Nadu government on Friday sanctioned ₹19.5 crore for the establishment of a rescue, treatment and rehabilitation centre (RTRC) for wildlife at Pethikuttai near Sirumugai in Coimbatore district.
Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, Climate Change and Forests, said the state-of-the-art centre would come up on 53 hectares and would be equipped with modern operation theatres and diagnostic tools with trained professionals. “This will be a centre of excellence to work on specialised treatment and care of injured and orphaned animals, including elephant calves, leopards, tigers, birds, ungulates, and reptiles. The centre will extensively work on rewilding animals,” she said.
In September 2021, the government announced in the Assembly that RTRCs would be established for the rescue of injured, orphaned, and ailing wild animals, including those that strayed into habitations. It later accorded administrative sanction for establishing the RTRCs in Coimbatore, Tiruchi, and Tirunelveli districts. It was decided that the project would be implemented in two phases, with the establishment of the centre in Coimbatore first, a Government Order said.
A detailed project report for the centre in Coimbatore was prepared through the Wildlife Trust of India. The Pethikuttai Reserve Forest was chosen for the centre, as it is close to areas that witness frequent negative interactions between humans and wildlife.
The site is easily accessible from the main road and it provides a calm and peaceful environment for comfort and safety of wild animals, the Government Order said.
It has good foliage cover to ensure adequate shade during daytime and proximity to Bhavanisagar Dam ensures adequate water for large animals, including elephants.
Out of the four zones of the centre, the human zone will have an administrative complex, animal care complex, staff quarters, watchtower, storeroom and sheds. The quarantine zone will be equipped with facilities to accommodate large carnivores, birds, primates, small mammals, ungulates, and reptiles. The lifetime care zone will house a limited number of non-releasable animals.
The rehabilitation zone is the largest of the four zones where all the temporarily disadvantaged animals meant for release will be held and rehabilitated. It will have five enclosures that will cater to the needs of all the key species likely to be admitted.
According to the Government Order, the centre will function as a leading institution for consultation and guidance for addressing issues of human-animal conflicts, besides developing and standardising protocols for rescue and rehabilitation of wild animals in their traditional habitats.