Four Indian / Golden Jackal pups were found in a sugarcane field while it was being harvested. The sugarcane field was located in Udmaiwadi, Indapur Taluka, Pune District and the local villager and land owner informed the RESQ Charitable Trust (Pune) team of their presence since 80% of the field was cut and the pups were now completely exposed.
We informed the Pune Forest Department, ACF Shendge and RFO Kale whose jurisdiction this area comes under and together planned that we would attempt reuniting the mother with her pups. We also called local group members of Rescue Baramati team and requested them to secure the pups in a safe location while RESQ Pune Team members Tuhin Satarkar, Sumedh Tarde, Amith Tapse and Sagar Kale left for Udmaiwadi equipped with gear required for a successful reunion and set up the pups inside a low yet natural barricade.
“We set up our live cameras near the pups and stayed at a distance. It is imperative to monitor the pups since they were so small, they were exposed to other predators yet a distance is essential because if the mother sensed our presence too close, she may not have come back to take her pups” said Tuhin Satarkar, Head – Rescue Wildlife Operations, RESQ.
The team waited patiently for over an hour when they suddenly spotted an adult female jackal hovering nearby. “We had ensured to stimulate the pups enough to urinate and made sure their smell was strong for the mother to find them, especially since we had to move them from their original location slightly as it was completely harvested and open” said Sumedh Tarde who was keeping a watchful eye on the live camera.
The mother Jackal came about 1.5 hours after the pups were placed and then carried them away one by one to a safer location. After the last pup she took away she came back and carried one of our cameras away in her mouth…a diligent and reserved mother indeed
