Nature is wild and we are RAWW (Resqink Association for Wildlife welfare)

RAWW – Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare is a Mulund based NGO that works for the welfare of wildlife. The main aim of the RAWW is to spread awareness to people and include them in supporting and being part of conservation of wildlife of the city. There is a serious need for a new level conservation to be practiced in the city as maximum human activities have only caused destruction of nature and wildlife, the natural habitat of all the wildkinds is almost under great threat.

All the members and volunteers belong to different walks of life and majority of the team consists of the youth – from the age of 18 to 25. At present the team consists of more than 50 active members.

Different tasks undertaken or performed by us and our team members are as follows:

A group of well experienced and ethically trained snake rescuers is the most special feature and service of our NGO , our numbers are registered with the Forest department, Police department , fire brigades , B.M.C , disaster management and so on – we provide the service of rescue of snakes from commercial and residential areas of our suburbs – we then register them with the forest department Mumbai Range and then release them back to wild ( almost keep the release site secret for the protection of the species as disclosing the location may be misused by some individual or groups leading to wildlife crimes etc. )

Whenever we rescue a snake – we try making the locals aware about snakes – inform them basic safety and security tips that can avoid human reptile conflict. Provide with emergency helpline numbers for distress situations.

We also conduct awareness program's in schools, clubs and societies – with power point presentation and not live snakes – as according to the rules laid down by the department it is illegal to conduct snake shows / awareness sessions with live snakes, its only possible if there is a written permission from the concerned forest officer. We make people aware about such things, rules, regulations – dos and don’ts.

Snakes fascinate all of us and many times people feel like keeping them as pets or trying to catch them from the forest – we educate people that all the species of reptiles of our country are protected under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 and thus making such attempt can lead one behind the bars other than a fatal snake bite.

We also have a team of independent researchers – who are researching on different areas of science in wildlife like reptiles, birds, mammals their distribution, behavior etc.  Many national and international research papers are published, which can be further used and read by the future generations.

We also volunteer the Mumbai range forest department during human wildlife conflicts – where  wildlife is either in threat or the humans because of its presence – the main reason for this is animals do not understand boundaries like we humans do and thus sometimes cross the wild habitat and enter human habitat. What we try to do is motivate the people to co exist with the animals , by direct or indirect actions like not killing or threatening any wildlife and if a distress situation – approach the rescue team. This usually happens with the leopards – leading to human leopard conflict.  We conduct awareness program's with the rescue teams of Sanjay Gandhi National Park and also volunteer them during emergency rescues – by different strategies during different situations and thus showing people that even common man can be a part of wildlife welfare.

Most common things we come across are,

Common snakes - 

rat snake , checkered keelback water snake , buff striped keelback ,common kukri, common sand boa , wolf snakes , bronzeback tree snake, Indian rock python – all non venomous snakes.

Cobra, krait, russell’s viper, saw scaled viper, bamboo pit viper – all venomous snakes.

Vine snake, cat snakes ( common & foreston’s cat snakes ) – all semi-venomous.

Common Birds-

Kite, owls, pond heron, bats etc.

Common animals –

Monkeys, langurs, leopards.

Our teams make people aware regarding these animals and also helps the forest department in various activities for wildlife conservation and welfare by following all the official protocols which is actually very important.

The difference between rehabilitation and dumping of wildkinds.

As we all know that the city has a very rich wildlife within its limits, there are some serious things that cannot be ignored. It is all about the rehabilitation of the rescued species by various organizations/individuals and the concerned government departments. Today the main reason for the human-animal conflict is because of the miss management of wildlife.We will concentrate on the dumping of species.
There are several organizations and individuals in the city who claim to rescue the wild animals, birds and reptiles in distress. The whole city feels its a job by doing which you get blessed! This is unfortunately not the truth, a very sorry moment to reveal the fact that the rescue of animals in distress or causing distress has increased as compared to the past but the rehabilitation is very poor.
Several animals are rescued every year but they are not released properly, which actually is a major concern for the future. Maximum wild animals are more territorial as compared to the stray or domestic ones and thus the job of rescuing and rehabilitating them is not so easy as it looks.
For instance any reptile rescued from a place is supposed to be rehabilitated within 3 kilo meters according to the international protocols, however this is not possible in a city like ours. But it is very important to relocate the wildkinds to a near distance that where it is done today. Organizations and individuals not all but many - who call it rehabilitation are actually dumping the rescued species which is unethical as well as something which created a negative impact on the habitat where released.
Introducing any species to a new area is a sort of experiment and it has been proved over the years that this practice is actually not kind job. At the same time it is a shame on the part of the concerned authorities that they are not capable of regulating and maintaining the balance. When an animal,bird,reptile is introduced to a new place while rehabilitation many factors are supposed to be checked and rechecked. A rescue cannot be called a rescue unless there is a successful rehabilitation - and a successful rehabilitation in this city is not a joke. Like humans - even animals are facing the shortage of space - all because of human errors on various stages and ignorance towards wildlife unless there is a problem/ distress.
According to the protocols that I had come across when I wear the shoes of a rescuer - any rescued snake is supposed to be rehabilitated in the mangroves , so its amazing to think that how a tree snake or a snake which belongs to a different habitat will survive there.Maximum snakes in the city enter into the open drainage system during the rains from the national park and such green patches. Also if over the years it learns to survive somewhere where it is not supposed to  - how will it affect the existing species today and tomorrow. There are many such dangerous questions that many may come across everyday.
Today in Mumbai we all know the craze of pets and the super craze of pet reptile and other wildlkinds both legal and illegal. Imported as well as native species of wildkinds are kept as pets by the people and one final day many of the owners realize that they can not take further care of them and thus feel to do a task to releasing the animal in the wild thinking that setting the imported foreign animal free in the native wild habitat here is a very noble cause. Today majority of the city's lakes are filled with imported turtles,fishes,crocodiles and so on, and similar is the case with the birds and animals too these days we rescue love birds and imported parrots too. We can call it the failure of the system for what is happening within the city today , the infected roots are located deep but are detected I just wonder when will they be uprooted - something next to impossible.
It is a very sincere request to all the current organizations and individuals in the city to think about it , if this continues - in the future there will be nothing to rescue and not because every thing will be sorted but because everything will be destroyed. Time to unite and move in a similar direction if not same, and thus spread awareness and practice something which is actual and ethical.

The secrets of human-animal conflict of Mumbai.

Mumbai is regarded as the financial capital of the country , its a city that never sleeps and has many more tags. I wonder when it is the richest city , why are so many things going wrong within. There are some serious issues which reflect some serious problems that the city is facing , the city forest is under great threat which is having an adverse effect on the environment. The green patches of the city include small forests , mangroves , and a national park which is surrounded by suburbs.
All these green areas are homes to thousands of lives which includes insects, reptiles, birds, and animals both land and aquatic other than different species of plants and trees, thus a threat to these greens are automatically a threat to the lives which it supports.
Today we all know the term human-wildlife conflict , which is very commonly used for a leopard attack or a snake bite or something else caused by a wildkind to humans, but we never try to understand the complex meaning behind the term or are miss using the term as we can read write and explain.
I m not expressing what wildlife and nature feels about and i m not a wildlife expert or something like that, what i m trying to do is express what i feel as a human being.
Human-wildlife conflict for me is everything because of human errors both intentional and unintentional on various levels , which have led to a very big threat for both wildlife and humans , for humans it will be felt or experienced in the long run.
We have always exploited the forest and the lives that is supports , from cutting a tree for wood , hunting an wild animal to taste to encroaching on the lands that belong to them. Other than this there are many problems which have been experienced all because of improper planning and management. This is not to point fingers or play the blame game but this is simple criticism done on the basis of analysis and experience acquired while performing and participating in various tasks for conservation and protection of the wildlife of the city.
The current status of the wildlife is under such threat that immediate actions , decisions , new laws and their instant implementations - in short a modification of the current system is required.
There has to be awareness amongst the people regarding various things which should be known by them , maximum people don't know the basic rules, regulations and protocols which are implemented since ages. Wildlife conservation is something which has a very big scope but more important is the need of practicing it with proper ethics. You don't need to be someone special , trained , experienced and so on to contribute and participate in conservation. The mantra for it is the feeling and believe in co existence with wildlife , this land belongs to both the man and the wild. The SGNP (Sanjay Gandhi National Park) is regarded as the lungs of the city as it provides so much of fresh oxygen other than the fresh drinking water which quenches the thirst of the dense population of the city's human and animals.
But today very few of us know the problems faced by the park one of the major problems is the encroachment which has disturbed the wildlife within , there are many other issues which too contribute to the problems. There are so many NGOs and firms that are trying to participate and contribute in conservation but at the end very less amount of success is achieved , this is because the numbers of individuals and the quality of information and awareness has to be enhanced in a simplified way so that it reaches the common man so that he clearly understands and accept it. Other than this are the group of biased individuals and the influential pressure groups who dominate the system here and also support the illegal and unethical practices for personal profits which acts as a barrier for many activists to perform their work and duties for the betterment of wildlife.
From declaration of buffer zones to permissions to enter into the national park is controlled by politics and politicians, constructions have emerged on areas which should be buffer zones, plastics and garbage is littered in and around the park by the visitors , speeding vehicles of the big shots of the city have killed and injured so many wildkinds that the real number has never come up and will never.
This is a never ending topic on which i can keep on writing , almost every day there is a new story in front of me where there is human-animal conflict , but i find that the animal is not at fault as it does not understand  the funda of boundaries and borders defined by humans , but still we can make out the difference how it behaves when it visits human habitat and how we behave when we visit their wild habitat.
Go to the forests and see how the monkeys and longoors run away after spotting a human and go to a location where a monkey has visited outside forest how people surround it , start clicking , teasing , feeding , chasing and disturbing it. And then i get a call for a distress situation created by the monkey ( actually by humans who provoke the wild animal) and i m requested to catch , take away , remove the animal from there. Wildlife is already unpredictable we cant make out whats going to be the next reaction of the animal and thus the curious human mind provokes the monkey to start somethings that seems to be entertaining which is very disturbing.
The leave me alone call for tiger conservation and protection should be implemented for all the wildlife, today the national animal is endangered and on a verge of extinction, tomorrow the whole nations animals will be in threat.

And a small information on the leopard attacks of 2012 and 2013 - majority of the attacks on humans were when they were sitting in the dark for relieving themselves at the night time, thus the leopard can not be blamed when someone in and around his territory is sitting in such a position that the cat miss identifies it as a  prey like a monkey , langoor or a dog. Majority of the locations where human life was lost was either encroachment or a forest area where leopards are living since years. An other reason contributing to it is the accumulation of un-managed garbage which attracts rodents and srtay dogs and cats which are easy prey to the leopards and thus a center of attraction.
 I was a part of all the rescue and trap operations undertaken by the forest department and concluded with the whole write up is  on the basis of my observation and no doubt with the references and thoughts of the experts of this field.