-
BEAR RESCUE CAMP
- 07 Jan 2023
ECO CLUB EVENT -BEAR RESCUE CAMP -WILDLIFE S.O.S
The Ecology Club of St. Josephs P.U. College had organized a one-day expedition for the 2 P.U.C students in Bannerghatta National Park on the 7th of January 2022. The expedition began at 11 o'clock with the students undertaking indemnities along with being briefed about the rules to be followed while at the vicinity followed by short video presentations and interactive sessions about various projects undertaken by the Wildlife S.O.S Organization by Ms. Vasuthi and Ms. Shreshta.
Of the various animals being rescued the particular branch that our college visited primarily focused on the Sloth Bear (Melursus urisinus) also commonly reffered to as the dancing bear, due to the inhumane practices of the "kalandhars". The centre rescues and rehabilitates such bears and keeps them safe from external factors which could hamper their growth and development.
During our stay we were educated in the ways by which the bears are rescued, treated, fed and kept active.
The Veterinary Doctor, Dr. Shree Ram explained to the students with great enthusiasm about the Body Conditioning Scale(B.C.S), Diet conservation systems, usage of microchips for tracking, Dart system anaesthetics used, the maintenance of medical history and files of the Bears and also gave us a tour of his Operation Theatre (O.T) where he treats the bears be it the regular annual checkups or it be deworming or the dental procedures he welcomed questions of all sorts which the students placed towards him.
After which we were taken to the 'Bear Kitchen' which is completely sustainable and uses only agro based compost for fuel in which about 500 kilograms of Ragi porridge is prepared for the Bares every day. the students were grouped in batches where one batch separated meal worms ( darkling beetle larve) while the other group set up food patches in their habitats for the bears to rehabilitate.
At the end of all activities and volunteering done by the students we had a follow up session where we recollected all the points of the day and summarized our stay alongside nature as we tried to do our part to conserve it which truly is an experience one cannot forget.
