Delhi to get its first wildlife rescue park

Delhi will have its first wildlife rescue center in Rajokri next month, officials said on Monday.

“The facility was set up on 1.24 acres of land in Rajokri, New Delhi district, where a monkey rescue center was abandoned. We turned it into a wildlife rescue center. It will be launched during Wildlife Week, ”a forestry department official said.

There were no such private or government facilities in the nation’s capital.

Until now, the forestry department, along with wildlife protection NGOs, used to rescue stranded or injured animals and rehabilitate them at Asola Bhatt Wildlife Sanctuary in South Delhi.

“The engagement with NGOs to save the animals will continue. A veterinarian from the forestry division of South Delhi will be deployed to the center for their treatment,” the official said.

The animal rescue center will come in place of a proposed bird facility.

Authorities were not convinced to reserve government resources for birds, such as kites and pigeons, which do not have high conservation value, officials said.

Now rescued wild animals, such as nilgai, mongooses, monkeys, jackals and reptiles, will be treated here, the official said, adding that the center would also be used to treat birds.

Earlier this year, the Ridge Management Board, a powerful body tasked with protecting the Delhi Ridge, approved a proposal for a wildlife rescue center in Rajokri. (With PTI inputs)