This Valentine’s Day, Send Your Love to Injured Wild Animals Who Need Food, Treatment & Care |
“Jaggu the leopard cub entered our lives quietly,” recalls Kaustubh Gawande from People for Animals (PfA) Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center, Wardha, one of India’s largest NGOs for animal rescue. Jaggu was found by the Washim Forest Department (Washim is a district in Maharashtra) in a battered state in November 2021. The cub had been separated from its mother and, being too young to find its way through the forest, was barely holding on in the wild.
When the Forest Department found Jaggu, his body was fragile, his movements minimal, and his breathing shallow. The forest staff knew that even a slight delay in treatment could prove fatal. “While our first advice to them when they called was to try to reunite the cub with its mother, after seven days of waiting, they figured the mother leopard was not going to return, and Jaggu was running out of time,” Kaustubh shares.
When Jaggu was finally brought to PfA Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center, Wardha, his diagnosis was worrying, says Kaustubh — severe anaemia, mild pneumonia, dehydration, and extreme weakness. “His tiny body was fighting multiple battles at once. He was placed in intensive care, and from that moment, I knew this was not a case where we could rely only on medicine. This cub needed presence, warmth, and constant care,” he adds.
Months of intensive nursing resulted in a transformation for Jaggu, who is one of the most loved animals at PfA, Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center, Wardha. He’s grown; his face still youthful, as he bounds around the centre, a living message of hope to the 30 animals currently at the shelter, that recovery is close.
But this isn’t possible without your help. This Valentine’s Day, send love their way through a contribution that will go towards the rescue, treatment, and rehabilitation of the wild. The Better India is collaborating with........