District planning committee equips Nashik forest department with specialised rescue vehicles, gear

Nashik: Funds from the District Planning Committee (DPC) were used to buy specialised rescue vehicles and advanced equipment for dealing with man-animal conflict, which were handed over to Nashik's forest department.The resources are aimed at enhancing wildlife protection and mitigating human-animal conflict in the region."There are large number of instances of man-animal conflict in Nashik district. The most important one that catches the eye and attention is the leopard straying into Nashik city and villages and attacking humans. We have to deal with them properly in the interest of nature and mankind," said minister Girish Mahajan, while handing over the equipment to the forest department officials.In order to strengthen the Wildlife Rescue Team's operational capacity, the DPC provided a Bolero vehicle for rapid response and a specialised pickup vehicle for transporting cages in the shortest possible time to the incident site.The technical kit presented included leopard rescue cages; thermal drones for surveillance that were especially to be used in the case of leopard attacks on humans in the rural areas at night; tranquiliser guns for sedating the animal before it can be safely evacuated; and trap cameras as part of surveillance and monitoring the situation in the affected villages.Additionally, plans were announced to empower the Wildlife Treatment Center to ensure better care for injured animals.Animal CensusOn the occasion of Buddha Purnima, the Nandur Madhmeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary—renowned as Maharashtra's first Ramsar site and a paradise for birdwatchers—conducted its ‘Nature Experience' wildlife census on May 1. A total of 15 wild animals were documented during the observation period. The findings highlighted the presence of eight golden jackals, three jungle cats, one hyena, one mongoose, and two wild rabbits.