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NEW DELHI: For the final 20 years, the partitions of a small clinic in New Delhi’s Wazirabad neighborhood have silently watched over the therapeutic of hundreds of wounded raptors rescued by brothers Mohammad Saud and Nadeem Shehzad. 

The birds of prey, falling from the capital’s leaden skies the place most are fatally injured by paper kites, would usually be left to their very own fates. However Saud and Shehzad have made it their lives’ work to deal with the injured birds. 

“Our job is to rehabilitate wildlife,” Shehzad, 43, advised Arab Information.

”For us, there was no possibility however to be taught on our personal … There is no such thing as a formal analysis and training on wildlife rehabilitation in India.” 

Within the clinic located within the brothers’ basement workplace, Saud held in his fingers an enormous kite that had torn its muscle tissue. With the assistance of a vet, he then positioned a rod to repair the wound. 

“This chook was despatched to us by a chook hospital. Its situation was very unhealthy and we hope that after it recovers, the kite will have the ability to fly,” Saud, 40, advised Arab Information throughout a latest go to.  

“We obtain wild birds, largely kites, from throughout Delhi. And there are two helpers who go and choose up the birds if we get a name.” 

The clinic was sheltering greater than 100 black kites in several phases of therapy, together with a few Egyptian vultures, a number of owls and different species of untamed birds — that are all recuperating. 

The brothers’ ardour for wild birds began once they have been youngsters within the mid-Nineties, when the pair stumbled upon a black kite with wounded wings. 

They took it to Delhi’s most distinguished chook hospital, hoping to search out shelter and therapy for the creature, solely to be refused as a result of it was a “non-vegetarian chook.” 

Baffled, the brothers have been left with “a way of helplessness” that lingered. Over time, they’d come throughout wounded black kites on the streets and had no selection however to disregard them attributable to a scarcity of therapy amenities within the Indian capital.

Till one fateful day in April 2003, when upon stumbling on one other injured black kite they determined that they couldn’t go away it’s. With the assistance of a neighborhood vet, they nursed the maimed chook again to well being. It couldn’t fly, however the kite stayed with them for 12 years till it died. 

“That was the turning level in life, and from 2003 onwards we determined to deliver such birds to our terrace and we made preparations (to deal with) such injured birds,” Shehzad stated. 

Since then, the brothers have rescued over 23,000 birds. 

New Delhi has an enormous inhabitants of raptors, with Shehzad estimating not less than 25,000 kites within the capital due to slaughterhouses and meat processing vegetation. They usually meet premature deaths attributable to poison and nests being destroyed throughout development and landscaping. Superstitious beliefs that depict raptors as harbingers of unhealthy luck have additionally led individuals to destroy their nests and poison the creatures. 

Regardless of their lack of formal coaching and the restricted avenues for individuals specializing in wildlife in India, Saud and Shehzad make up for it with analysis and experiments, whereas additionally enlisting the assistance of animal medical doctors within the space. 

“We did our personal analysis, learn books, searched the Web and watched YouTube. Generally we additionally consulted human medical doctors to know complicated issues and apply them on birds,” Saud stated. 

On separate events, Saud and Shehzad obtained scholarships to go to the US for conferences organized by Minnesota-based Nationwide Wildlife Rehabilitators Affiliation, which works to enhance and promote wildlife rehabilitation.

“After we went there, we realized a few of our works have been distinctive, which individuals within the US weren’t conscious of,” Shehzad stated. 

In 2010, they established Wildlife Rescue, a non-profit group and charitable belief by which they obtain overseas contributions which have helped them fund the rescue efforts — which value about $1,600 each month. The brothers additionally run a household enterprise making liquid-soap dispensers and different lavatory equipment. 

Wildlife Rescue, which treats greater than 2,000 raptors a 12 months, is certainly one of a handful of organizations in India devoted to wildlife rehabilitation. Saud and Shehzad hope their nation will quickly boast a correct, devoted heart the place “wildlife may be correctly taken care of,” Shehzad stated. 

The brothers have rescued largely black kites, which span throughout New Delhi. The species might not be endangered or significantly engaging, however sufficient birds have had their wings slashed whereas circling above the town over time that Shehzad believes that is what they’re meant to do.

“We attempt to discover a resolution to the issue. We really feel that God is asking us to do this.”