Assam’s wildlife rescue plan puts focus on veterinary capacity and control over animal transfers

Guwahati: The Assam government’s consideration of a proposal by Vantara to establish three wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centres has opened a wider debate over how the state should manage its growing wildlife rescue needs.

The proposal, submitted to the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Department on August 12, includes three facilities, with one planned specifically for Asian elephants. While the proposed centres could add capacity for treating and rehabilitating injured wildlife, conservationists are questioning whether Assam should depend more heavily on a private organisation or first strengthen its own veterinary and rescue infrastructure.

The state’s Environment and Forest Minister has said the proposal is being examined.

Vantara, the wildlife rescue and rehabilitation facility based in Jamnagar and operated by Anant Ambani, has offered to provide the infrastructure and expertise required for the proposed centres.

For conservationists, however, the issue goes beyond whether Assam needs additional rescue facilities. They say any decision must also address what happens to animals after rescue, who controls their treatment and rehabilitation, and whether animals from the Northeast could eventually be moved outside the region.

Assam’s veterinary gap at the centre of the debate

Environment journalist and wildlife activist Mubina Akhtar said Assam's immediate requirement is a stronger government-backed wildlife veterinary system.

The state has a large and diverse wildlife population and regularly deals with emergencies involving elephants, rhinos and other wild species. At the same time, she pointed out that the Forest Department does not have a separate cadre of wildlife veterinarians.

According to Akhtar, this can result in delays when animals require emergency medical attention.

She said Assam needs a dedicated veterinary ecosystem capable of responding quickly to wildlife emergencies rather than depending largely on outside facilities.

Her preferred approach is the creation of a specialised wildlife veterinary cadre within the Forest Department.

The concern, she said, is not about whether private facilities can provide advanced treatment. It is about ensuring that the state's long-term wildlife management system remains strong enough to deal with animals within Assam itself.

The elephant question

The proposed elephant rescue centre has brought the issue into sharper focus.

Assam and the wider Northeast are important elephant habitats, and conservationists have repeatedly raised questions over the movement of elephants from the region to facilities in other parts of the country.

Akhtar said several elephants, including males, females and sub-adults, have in recent years been moved from Assam and Arunachal Pradesh to other parts of India. She questioned the conservation rationale behind transferring healthy animals from their natural range.

She argued that elephants are long-ranging animals and that moving them to a substantially different geographical and climatic environment can raise serious welfare and conservation questions.

Akhtar also referred to documents concerning 10 elephants described as mostly sub-adults that were reportedly purchased from owners in Chowkham in Arunachal Pradesh's Namsai district by the Radhe Krishna Temple Welfare Trust of Jamnagar.

She further cited documents that, according to her, indicated that 152 Asian elephants were already being held in captivity at Jamnagar.

For her, the central question is not simply whether the receiving facility has adequate infrastructure.

“Any act of transfer must be justified from the conservation point of view,” she said, while expressing reservations about the proposed Assam facilities in light of earlier concerns over elephant transfers.

Existing infrastructure versus a new private facility

Another question being raised is whether Assam needs an entirely new private rescue network when rehabilitation work is already being carried out in the state.

Wildlife activist Devojit Moran pointed to the Wildlife Trust of India's existing rescue and rehabilitation work in Kaziranga.

He argued that government resources could instead be directed towards strengthening facilities already operating in Assam.

Moran questioned the need for another rescue centre and said existing institutions should be provided with better infrastructure and resources.

He also referred to allegations concerning the movement of animals from Assam and Arunachal Pradesh to Vantara and said the government should carefully consider these issues before approving the proposal.

Calls for a public record of animal movements

Transparency has emerged as another major demand from conservationists.

Akhtar alleged that animals from the Northeast, including rescued and seized wildlife, have been transferred to Vantara under animal exchange programmes.

She said the Assam government and the state zoo should publicly disclose details of animals being moved to the Jamnagar facility.

Her demand includes a complete list of animals transferred from Assam, along with details of the reasons and approvals for each movement.

Akhtar has also called for a white paper before the government takes a final decision on Vantara's proposal.

According to her, the document should clearly explain which species the proposed centres will handle, where the facilities will be located, how they will operate, what infrastructure will be created and why Vantara has been selected for the project.

A possible role for Vantara, but with safeguards

Wildlife conservationist Jayanta Kr Das has taken a more qualified view of the proposal.

He said additional rescue and rehabilitation infrastructure could benefit Assam and the Northeast, particularly given the region's wildlife population and conservation challenges.

However, Das said any such facility should remain focused on conservation within the region and should not become a mechanism for transferring more wildlife to Gujarat.

He acknowledged Vantara's contribution to wildlife conservation but said the movement of rare species from different parts of India to the Jamnagar facility has generated concerns among conservationists.

Das also highlighted questions surrounding the transportation of elephants from the Northeast.

He said a rescue facility in Assam could be useful if it improves local conservation capacity, but added that the terms of its operation need to be clearly defined.

For him, the distinction is important: Assam can benefit from better rescue and treatment facilities without necessarily sending more animals outside the region.

Government decision will determine the model

The Assam government's response to the proposal could therefore shape more than the future of three individual rescue centres.

It could determine how the state balances government wildlife infrastructure with private conservation expertise, and whether rescued animals are primarily treated and rehabilitated within the Northeast or moved to facilities elsewhere.

The state is home to important populations of Asian elephants, one-horned rhinoceroses and several other protected species. Wildlife emergencies, human-animal conflict and disease outbreaks already place significant demands on its conservation machinery.

For conservationists, the immediate priority is therefore not only adding more buildings or treatment facilities, but creating a system with trained personnel, clear protocols, transparent animal movement records and strong government oversight.

As the proposal remains under examination, these questions are likely to remain central to the discussion over Vantara's proposed entry into Assam's wildlife rescue and rehabilitation landscape.