Trees at our sloth bear and elephant rescue centres aren’t just trees. They double as scratching posts for our itchy elephants, who love pulling down branches and chomping on fruit and leaves they find during their walks, and they often bask comfortably under the shade of the tree canopies. Even our bears manage hours of fun climbing trees and hiding out in the tree tops, or playing endless games of hide-and-seek amongst the dense foliage in their enclosures. With the monsoons settling in in North India, our surrounding flora is getting some much needed respite from the blazing summer sun. We decided to give Mother Nature a helping hand greening up our centres, and held plantation drives at our two Agra centres over the last week.
As part of a weeklong program at the beginning of July, the staff at Wildlife SOS’ Agra Bear Rescue Facility planted a hundred saplings in and around the centre, adding to the forest cover of the Sur Sarovar Bird Sanctuary in which ABRF is situated. This was part of an event called Van Mahotsav, and was organized in partnership with the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department, the district panchayat and the staff at the sanctuary.
The next week, the wonderful women from the Horticulture Club of Agra lent a hand transplanting saplings at the Elephant Conservation and Care Centre. This delightful group of twenty-two planted nearly a hundred saplings in and around the elephant centre. They enjoyed the experience so much, that they’ve promised to continue helping and supporting Wildlife SOS in the future in whatever capacity they can.
We’ve actually had a lot of fun (disguised as work) planting the saplings and can’t wait till they’ve grown into trees that can then form the lush green background to all our adventures with our wonderful animals. Why don’t you help spread the green; CLICK HERE to plant a tree today!
