Forest Voices of India

The town of Harohalli is a 40 minute drive southeast of Bangaluru in south India. On May 10, 2023, a kind person took the time to stop and rescue a bonnet macaque there who was having trouble and clearly wasn’t doing well. She was brought to the WRRC (Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre) in Bangaluru, adjacent to the Bannergatta Forest.

There was an uncomfortable swelling on one side of her abdomen. She wasn’t just simply an overweight macaque because the swelling was only on one side. It looked to Dr. Roopa Satish like it might be an intestinal hernia.

At the nearby Zoo hospital at the Bannerghatta Biological Park, Dr. Umashankar and Dr. Vijay took an x-ray and were able to confirm that diagnosis.

Surgery and recovery

The following day, back at the WRRC Clinic, Dr. Roopa and Dr. Nirupama performed surgery, using general anesthesia, to correct the hernia.

All went as planned, the wound healed well, and there were no post-operative complications.

Of course, macaques love fruit and she was kept on a half diet of soft food like banana, papaya, and cucumber. Each day she got better and regained more of her strength.

In just 15 days she was back to feeling fine again, and as macaques tend to do, she removed her own sutures. On June 21, she’ll be taken back home to where she was found in Harohalli to rejoin her family and friends.

Good to go

Thanks to her kind rescuer and the skilled surgical intervention at the WRRC, she’ll be able to live a happy life now, active in the wild and free from pain.

Her condition had been serious. Initially, she may have suffered from a bite or trauma which tore the abdominal muscles, causing significant internal damage. If it hadn’t been corrected, as she grew older, she would have been very susceptible to serious intestinal problems that would only get worse with time. Now she is healed and can live a normal happy life of 20 to 25 years.

Bonnet macaques are native to south India. They are named for the distinct bonnet of fur on the top of their heads.

Dr. Roopa writes, ”We are glad to send her home in 41 days after a major abdominal surgery.”

Congratulations to Dr. Roopa, Dr. Nirupama, and all at the WRRC!

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You can help monkeys like this and other wild animals at the WRRC with your donation. Thank you for caring!

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By Sharon st Joan

© Forest Voices of India, 2023

The Indian spectacled cobra is among the most common snakes in India. In the area of Nisarga, near the Bannerghatta Forest in Karnataka, south India, one of these was found injured on June 6.

On arrival she weighed one kilo (2.2pounds) and had a severe wound to her intestines. Though no one saw how she was hurt, it looked like the kind of accident that could have been caused by an excavation machine doing construction work. She might have been underground when it happened, so the machine operator would not have seen her.

When she was brought to the WRRC (Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre) in the Bannerghatta Forest, she wasn’t in very good shape. Dr. Roopa Satish first gave her shots for the pain, to prevent infection, and to stop the bleeding. Then the intestinal wound, which was muddy, had to be rinsed with a saline and antimicrobial solution.

The intestines had to be put back in properly, and then the tear on the skin repaired. A firm bandage was put on the snake. All this was quite exhausting for the snake, and she was placed in a clean vivarium with a heating pad where she could rest and recover in quiet place.

The cobra’s recovery

Because the wound was so serious and the intestines had to be given time to heal, the cobra couldn’t be fed for a while. She was kept on pain killers and strong broad-spectrum antibiotics and given fluids under the skin.

Two days after the surgery, she was beginning to look a bit livelier – even displaying her hood – which was a wonderful, encouraging sign.

Three weeks after the surgery, the wound was healing well, and the cobra is now on her way back to good health. It was an extensive surgery, and it’s good that she’s recovering so well and is on her way to being released.

She’ll still have to wait for one or two sheddings, which could take from one to three months before she can go back to the forest.

Then she’ll be able to resume her life back in the wild, happy to be well and free again – thanks to the skill of the doctors and the excellent care she was given by the WRRC.

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By Sharon St Joan

The photo is of another cobra. Photo credit: Kamalnv, CC BY 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

© Copyright, Forest Voices of India, 2023

A Great Indian fruit bat in the wild

Over two years ago, in April of 2020, two Giant Indian Fruit Bats were rescued from Bangaluru City, in south India, and brought to the WRRC (Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre).

Both are males that weighed 390 grams and 410 grams (nearly one pound each).

The Covid 19 pandemic had just begun, and sadly, along with it, came false rumors that the disease was being spread by bats.

Worldwide, some people responded with cruelty toward bats. Bats are, of course, beneficial to the natural world, not harmful.

One of the bats had been kept, inappropriately, as a pet, but was promptly released with the advent of covid.

The other bat was wild and had been attacked and injured by people who mistakenly thought that bats can cause covid.

Both bats were left injured. They have irreversible wing injuries and are unable to fly, so they cannot be released back to the wild.

They are quiet, shy creatures who enjoy hiding in safe places. Dr. Roopa Satish, the Head Wildlife Rehabilitator, along with the staff of the WRRC have created a number of special safe hiding places for them. They are housed together and have become good friends.

They are given a wide variety of fruit, which they really enjoy. Their time is spent watching the activity in the forest and in the sky, of birds and other wild creatures.

In the wild, fruit bats are very social animals that enjoy living together in large social groups. They sleep during the day and wake up at twilight to begin to fly in search of food. An amazing sight to watch as they soar past the trees with their huge wings stretched out; their wing span is about five feet.

Like mammals generally, fruit bats are not natural fliers. They can fly only when they take off from a height, but if they get stranded on the ground, they can’t just take off again, but first need to climb a tree and then after reaching the top will be able to take off in flight.

When they are resting, fruit bats hang upside down. A good sense of smell helps them with locating fruit trees. They also see well and have good hearing, but they are missing the sonar that insect-eating bats have.

Thankfully, these two bats were rescued by kind people and then cared for by the WRRC. They’re able to live their lives in peace and security in the re-assuring presence of the nearby forest and each other.

Photo credit: Praveenp, CC BY -sa 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

How you can help

You can help the orphaned or injured wildlife at the Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre near Bangalore, India, where so many wild animals are cared for. Thanks to the expertise of the WRRC veterinarians and caregivers, most can be released to live out their lives in freedom back in their wild habitat.

Please find the donate button on the right, at the top. Thank you for giving!