Animals' SOS Wildlife

Wildlife SOS had an unexpected assignment on Monday night when they were called in to save a porcupine from the under-construction Signature Bridge at Wazirabad in north Delhi. An endangered species, porcupines are protected under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.

Members of Wildlife SOS were told that workers at the construction site spotted the crested porcupine struggling to stay afloat in an 18m-deep well. They informed the police control room, which in turn contacted Wildlife SOS.

"It was a rare sight to see the porcupine in water. We saw it struggling to stay alive. The rescue operation took over two hours. The animal was tired and we had to gently manoeuvre it with nets and animal rescue equipment to bring it to the edge of the water. Tired of struggling to stay afloat, it would have drowned had we not rescued it on time," said Munish, one of the three rescue workers.

The operation finally ended around 2am on Tuesday. Once it was pulled out, the porcupine was examined for injuries and then released in a nearby forest area. "Being a wild animal, the porcupine was obviously traumatized by its ordeal. It dashed for cover the moment we released it," said Abhishek, another member of the rescue team. Kamal was its third member.

Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder of Wildlife SOS, said, "We often don't realize the rich biodiversity that Delhi's habitat and forests comprise. Urbanization and loss of natural habitat endangers the very existence of species like porcupine. It is protected under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 and is an endangered animal."