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COURTESY: WCAWAHow You Can Help:
While the Injured Sea Turtle
Treatment and Transit Centre at
Dahanu is equipped with basic
infrastructure, volunteers are
frequently forced to employ jugaad
(do it yourself) techniques to care for
the number of turtles and other wild
animals they rescue.- The centre needs a marine water
fi ltration unit costing Rs. 10-12 lakh
to keep holding tanks for turtles
clean. Currently water is fi ltered
manually through a laborious,
time-consuming process. - The centre needs an X-ray
machine.The team currently
get X-ray tests done at local
diagnostic centres for humans,
many of which turn them away. - The centre needs at least 20
isolation tanks each costing
Rs. 25,000. It currently has fi ve
tanks donated by the Vasant J.
Sheth Foundation. - The centre needs deep freezers
to store turtle food and preserve
dead specimens for taxidermy,
electrocautery and laser therapy
units, a computer and a printer.
CONTACT:
Wildlife Conservation and Animal
Welfare Association (wcawaindia@
gmail.com), Dr. Dinesh Vinherkar
([email protected]) or Dhaval
Kansara: [email protected]
marvels will be safe once they are
released. Pollution, poaching, habitat
destruction and climate change have
combined to turn the tide against these
creatures that have successfully survived
Nature’s challenges for millions of years.
The story of how an informal animal
rescue group took the shape of an NGO
in 2013 is a fascinating one that WCAWA
founder, Dhaval Kansara, narrated to us
over refreshing glasses of Maaza. Today,
the Honorary Wildlife Warden of Palghar
district, Kansara’s aff air with turtles began
as a teenager when he and a young boy
hailing from a fi shing family ensured for
three years in a row that the hatchlings
of an olive Ridley locally known as langdi
kahad (crippled turtle) made their way to
the sea. In 2011, when an alarming number
of injured and dead turtles washed
up ashore, along with other wildlife
enthusiasts, Kansara, approached Gajendra
Narawane, IFS, then Deputy Conservator
of Forest, Dahanu, who played a key role
in establishing the centre near the forest
offi ce premises.
This crew of wildlife lovers overcome
challenges every single day in their mission
to return turtles to where they rightfully
belong. Their fl agship programme ‘Save
Sea Turtle, Save Sea’ aims to build
awareness among the fi shing community
on the importance of protecting
these endangered reptilians. Involving
community members during the release
of rescued turtles has made a tangible
diff erence in raising awareness for sea
turtle conservation in the region.
In the middle of our conversation,
Dr. Vinherkar revealed that a hawksbill sea
turtle hatchling is currently at the centre.
It was a surprising fi nd considering that
no nesting turtle sites have been recorded
from nearby areas. WCAWA and the
Maharashtra Forest Department have in
fact declared a prize money of Rs. 5,000
to anyone giving information about egg
laying by sea turtles. He informs us that if
the little one passes a swimming test later
in the day, they will release it into the sea.
There are other individuals as well,
who are drawing attention to their
conservation and welfare work.
Dr. Vinherkar’s love for his former wards
was palpable as he told us about Namo,
an olive Ridley turtle that was fi tted
with a one-of-its kind artifi cial fl ipper
developed by him; Peace, a green sea
turtle that was found with more than
One of the Earth’s most ancient creatures, sea turtles (facing page) have been around for more
than 100 million years, fi lling a crucial role in the balance of marine habitats. WCAWA members,
along with offi cials of the Maharashtra Forest Department (above) , release Peace, a green sea
turtle that was treated after being found with more than 1,000 leeches on its body.1,000 leeches on its body, treated and
successfully released, and another green
sea turtle, Queen, which was found stuck
in a discarded fi shing net, nursed back to
health and released at Dahanu beach by
actor Alia Bhatt.
Seeing the diffi culty with which
volunteers carried injured turtles on
motorbikes, animal rights activist
Fizzah Shah donated an ambulance to
WCAWA, which is today India’s fi rst
sea turtle rescue ambulance capable of
accommodating upto fi ve rescuers. The
organisation now receives calls around
the clock to rescue all manners of wild
creatures in the green belt of Dahanu.
Volunteers also conduct awareness
programmes at schools and colleges,
and train forest offi cials in wildlife
rescue protocols.
As we assembled in expectation
around the tank to watch the hatchling
paddle along with its much-larger
cousins, the team shared its dream of
transforming their fl edgling centre into a
state-of-the art treatment and research
facility comprising a turtle orphanage,
information and awareness centre. Going
forth, they hope to satellite tag rescued
turtles for long-term monitoring and
work in collaboration with like-minded
individuals and organisations.And when
we learnt that the rookie swimmer must
wait another week to return to the sea,
we fi gure it is time for us to head back to
the city. Ê