Rohit Kumar Bondugula, Research Scholar of School of Computer and Information Sciences at the University of Hyderabad (UoH) and his team along with Pradeep Nair, founder of Animal Warrior Conservation Society have taken up the initiation of feeding the stray dogs and wild animals in the university campus.
UoH has a habitat for 200 plus species of Birds, various mammals and reptiles. The food wastage of the hostel messes and garbage used to be the source of food for many stray dogs, wild boars and other wildlife. Amidst lockdown almost all the students left home, therefore many messes have been closed. Some feral dogs in search of food enter deep into the forest to hunt hares, wild boars and spotted deers. Therefore, to avoid conflict of feral dogs and wildlife, Rohit and Pradeep along with their team decided to feed the stray dogs within their territories at different places in the campus so that they don’t venture into the forest. Pradeep and Rohit along with their teams have made arrangements of cooked food for stray dogs, water bowls for the birds, vegetables and grass for wildlife in the campus.
(A glimpse of UoH)Few smaller ponds, grass lands and lakes are drying up due to scorching summer heat, which serves as the main resource of water and food for wildlife. There are several concrete water tubs which were deployed by the Wild Lens team and UoH Administration in the past. With the help of the horticulture department, UoH Security and forest guards regular filling of water in the concrete water tubs are taken care of which serves as the water source for spotted deers, wild boars and other wildlife on campus.
Several organizations like Animal Warriors, Students for Development and Towards Better India have formed an Alliance known as “Youth Alliance Against Corona” (YAAC) to do voluntary service to the society and animals. YAAC is an all India organization which is formed to fight against corona by extending the support and engaging in voluntary service by providing food and essential needs to the society and animals.
The YAAC team are thankful to the Vice Chancellor Prof. Podile Appa Rao, Registrar P Sardar Singh, Dean Students Welfare Prof R S Sarraju, for their support for the noble cause, in addition to teachers Dr Shree Deepa, Dr Krishna and others for their extended help in volunteering by feeding the stray dogs and wild animals.
The UoH student volunteers who are regularly feeding the stray dogs are Vijay Singh, Mani Varma, Rajashekar Srigadde, Mohan Kuruva, Venkata Siddu, Ratan Singh, Abhigyan, Akash, Laxman and several others. We sincerely thank the Animal Warriors’ team for their special care for feeding all the stray dogs across the campus. The key volunteers of Animal Warriors are Pradeep, Santhoshi, Manish, Amarnath, Sunil, Pavan, Anirudh and Raghav, we thank them for the help and care provided to the fauna of the University campus. We also thank Ravi Goud, President of Towards Better India (TBI), Hyderabad City and Secretary Nagarjuna for procuring the vegetables and food for the wild life and distributing masks to all the volunteers. The team is committed to continue feeding the wild animals and stray dogs during the lockdown.
The YAAC team is also thankful to the Horticulture wing staff C P Sharma, V Subba Rao for their continuous efforts in arranging water for wildlife; Chief Security Officers Bharanidharan, Jalandhar, Forest Supervisor Ravinder Reddy and guards Prasad, Govind, Ram Singh, Digambar, Shivaji and Ashok who have been constant support in the conservation activities taken up in the University campus.
