Page 57 - Reliance Foundation Annual Report 2021-22

Animal Welfare Projects in FY21-22

Promoting herpetological welfare
Reliance Foundation has funded the Indian
Herpetological Society’s Animal Rescue and
Rehabilitation Centre in Pune. The Centre supports and
cares for animals that are too badly injured to survive in
their natural habitats. Reliance Foundation has helped
upgrade rescue equipment and enhance techniques to
enable the rescue team to better treat and rehabilitate
injured wild animals.
Supporting local artisans

Reliance Foundation has a long legacy of promoting
Indian art and culture. To this end, Reliance Foundation
has consistently backed organisations that support
local artisans, to help them make a sustainable living
In addition to its direct interventions and collaborations, from their work and give their craft a new lease of life.
Reliance Foundation has also been providing grants The most prominent of these organisations is Sewa
since 2012 to support deserving causes across the International, which is training local women artisans to
country. In FY21-22, these grants focused on two key upscale waste polythene collected from villages into
areas – animal welfare and support to artisans. bags. Sewa also trains local women in Kutch to help
them become ethnic wear creators and entrepreneurs.
Tracking man-animal conflict
Reliance Foundation has sponsored a study by the
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) to analyse
shared spaces between humans and leopards in two
sanctuaries prone to man-animal conflict – Sanjay
Gandhi National Park (SGNP) and Tungareshwar
Wildlife Sanctuary (TWLS). This study was designed
to help conservationists understand four crucial
areas – the leopards’ movements into and out of the
parks; their response to humans in terms of space
use; human-leopard interactions; and local residents’
response to leopards in their area.

To this end, three leopards were radio-collared and
studied. The programme also included scientific
training for 50+ field staff. A detailed report elaborating
leopard home ranges and their interaction with humans
was submitted to the Maharashtra Forest Department.
These findings have proved to be a valuable case
study for other areas where wild animals live in close
proximity to high-density human settlements.
Enhancing zoological facilities
Reliance Foundation has also contributed towards
animal welfare initiatives at the National Zoological
Park, New Delhi, by sponsoring two MUVs (battery
carts) and two Isuzu SUVs. These rugged vehicles
have proved to be extremely reliable and have seen
extensive use in providing veterinary support and
distributing rations to the animals. Reliance Foundation
has also sponsored a computer, a portable X-ray
machine and a digital radiography machine to be used
for the benefit of the zoo animals.

Annual Report 2021-22 57