Sanctuary Makers

The Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation near Kaziranga in Assam is the guardian angel for animals and birds in peril, especially during floods

By Anupam Bordoloi

August 27, 2018

(Clockwise from left) CWRC members transport a rhino calf which had strayed into a village on the outskirts of the Kaziranga National Park on July 26. The calf was separated from its mother when flood waters inundated vast swathes of the wildlife sanctuary. The calf is now among seven other rhinos being hand raised at the centre.
Photographs by Subhamoy Bhattacharjee/IFAW-WTI

Animal Farm
Rhino calves require utmost love and care as they grow up without their mothers and face constant threat of infections in a restricted environment
Photograph by Subhamoy Bhattacharjee/IFAW-WTI

In Safe Hands
A baby squirrel undergoing treatment at the centre
Photograph by Subhamoy Bhattacharjee/IFAW-WTI

Eye See You
A rescued infant fishing cat under treatment at the centre
Photograph by Subhamoy Bhattacharjee/IFAW-WTI

A Crested Eagle released in the wild with a tag attached to its left leg for monitoring its recovery
Photograph by Subhamoy Bhattacharjee/IFAW-WTI

Elephant calves require utmost love and care as they grow up without their mothers and face constant threat of infections in a restricted environment
Photograph by Subhamoy Bhattacharjee/IFAW-WTI

Wings Of Hope
An Oriental Pied Hornbill, which was rescued with a broken wing, recuperating at the centre
Photograph by Subhamoy Bhattacharjee/IFAW-WTI

As the August sun beats down mercilessly on the floodplains of Kaziranga National Park, a leopard finds a quiet spot atop a tall tree for his afternoon siesta. It’s one of his favourite spots inside the large enclosure at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC), a project run by the Assam forest department, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). The leopard, rescued months ago after it strayed into a village on the outskirts of the game reserve, will never go back to the wild, unlike the rhinos, elephants and the like that are rescued and hand reared in the CWRC’s sprawling complex at the Panbari Reserve Forest, about 220km from state capital Guwahati.

“We cannot teach leopard or tiger cubs to hunt in captivity. Those skills are taught by their mothers. And a leopard which does not know how to hunt is as good as dead in the wild, hence, they are sent to zoos after their rehabilitation is complete,” says Rathin Barman, the joint director of WTI and incharge of the...