(Top) The fawn that was rescued and (below) a leopard cub that was found in the Moraghat range of Gayerkata in Jalpaiguri district on Saturday. The three-month-old cub has been sent to Madarihat rescue centre. The vet of Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary said the cub was doing fine. Around 500g of meat has been prescribed for it every day. Pictures by Anirban Choudhury and Subhash Chandra Bose

Alipurduar, July 22: Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) needs a rescue centre badly.

The field director of BTR, L.G. Lepcha, has written to the chief wildlife warden and chief conservator of forests (wild life) of Bengal, underlining the necessity of the centre especially in the light of recent incidents in which rescued animals were sent elsewhere at the risk of their lives.

“The destination is usually Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary or Rasikbeel, 40km and 30km respectively from BTR. The distance is a big issue especially if the animal is injured or a newborn. Not only that, it takes time to contact officials there and they may not have space always for our animals,” said Lepcha.

The field director was referring to the fawn of a spotted deer that was rescued yesterday by the forest staff of the Hamiltangunj range under BTR. It had been found in Bharnobari Tea Estate, 45km from here. The Jaldapara authorities refused to take in the deer, citing lack of space. As a result, the fawn is now at the range office.

“But an animal like this needs special care and in BTR we don’t have any permanent vets,” said Lepcha. Animals from BTR taken ill or injured are attended to by local vets. The only exceptions are the trained elephants, in which case, vets are called in from Jaldapara.

Forest officials said the diet of the just-over-a-month-old fawn is milk. It will be introduced to grass after three months.

On November 10, 2006, an adult barking deer was rescued from the Cheko beat area of BTR with a leg injury. The next day the animal was taken to Jaldapara, but died after a few hours. Foresters believe that a rescue centre closer home might have saved it.

In April this year, a pair of leopard cubs was rescued by the staff of Hamiltangunj range office. “They were sent to Jaldapara and are doing fine. So is an owl that we had found in March,” said a forest official.

However, to set up a rescue centre, permission has to be taken from the Central Zoo Authority and certain conditions fulfilled. The recruitment of a permanent vet and a prime location for the centre are some of the conditions.

“It should be such that it can be accessed from all points of the reserve. A rescue centre should also have a clinic of its own,” said the official.