Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC)

Prelims: Current events of national and international importance| Environment

Why in News?

CWRC, Assam has completed 25 years of wildlife rescue, rehabilitation and conservation.

It is India’s first dedicated facility for hand-raising, treating and releasing orphaned/injured wild animals.
Establishment – At Panbari, near Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, Assam in 2002.
Jointly run by –
- Assam Forest Department
- Wildlife Trust of India (WTI)
- International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)
Contribution – It rescued 10,000+ animals and released into wild about 68%.
Major focus – Rescue, veterinary care, rehabilitation and reintroduction.

Major Conservation Activities

Flood rescue – Rescues animals stranded, injured or displaced during floods.
Rehabilitation – Provides veterinary treatment and raises orphaned young animals.
Reunification – Attempts to reunite young animals with their mothers.
Human–wildlife conflict – Community outreach to reduce conflict.
The CWRC has also played a pivotal role in reintroducing the one-horned rhinos to western Assam’s Manas National Park by rehabilitating rescued individuals.
Other notable efforts – Rehabilitation of
- Asiatic black bear cubs – Manas and Dihing Patkai (Found in the Himalayas and Northeast India).
- Wild buffalo – In India, major populations occur in Assam.
- Hoolock gibbons – India’s only apes and the only gibbons found in India.

WTI is a leading Indian nature conservation organization dedicated to protecting wildlife and wild habitats.
Formed in – 1998
WTI operates as a non-profit action institution that works in close partnership with
- local communities,
- state forest departments,
- Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

About International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)

It is a global non-profit organization founded in 1969.
It has headquartered across multiple countries, it works in over 40 nations.
Objective – to rescue individual animals, protect natural habitats, combat wildlife crime, and promote coexistence between animals and people.

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