Wildlife SOS

A surprise guest in a Delhi school storeroom led to a swift rescue by Wildlife SOS, showing how calm and coexistence save lives.

From a 16-ft king cobra in Kerala to a trapped koel in Delhi, these four animal rescues show how ordinary people across India are answering nature’s call for help — with ropes, courage, and compassion.

Aaliya Mir spends her days rescuing deadly vipers from Kashmiri homes, saving bear cubs and reuniting them with their mothers.

As human-wildlife conflicts escalate due to shrinking habitats and increased encounters, these organisations are working to promote peaceful coexistence between humans and elephants, leopards, snakes and Lantana camara — emphasising the importance of collective action.

Geeta Seshamani narrates how along with Kartick Satyanarayan and the team at Wildlife SOS they sort to break the cruel Dancing Bear practice by the Kalandar community that used sloth bears as a source of earning.

Aaliya Mir, a resident of Srinagar, spends her days rescuing deadly vipers from Kashmiri homes, saving bear cubs and reuniting them with their mother and tracing leopard trails in the villages.

"When the spiked shackles were cut from his legs, the relief brought tears to his eyes. His rescuers have tried to ensure that he never sheds a tear again."

Wildlife SOS has been actively involved in the rescue, protection and rehabilitation of big mammals such as sloth bears, leopards, elephants, rhesus macaques, deer and antelopes, as well as snakes and birds since 1995.

Cubs often get separated from their mothers when the leopards venture out to hunt, leaving their off-springs in dens or in the dense sugarcane fields that are abundantly found in this region.

Owls and some of their body parts have been a crucial element in the sorcery practised by many “tantrik” or black magic practitioners.