Owls and Wildlife Veterinarians

Some similarities between owls and wildlife veterinarians: Comic from my column with The Hindu. The lockdown has been no vacation for wildlife vets across the country, who have been performing rescues and rehabilitation despite the challenges. 

My first tryst with the work of a wildlife veterinarian was on a field visit to Manas National Park on assignment, where I witnessed two of the first reintroduced rhinos of the park being hand-raised by ace wildlife veterinarian Dr. Bhaskar Chowdhry. The comic is inspired by the work of two of my wildlife vet pals, Dr. Ruta Bandivadekar who supervised the tranquilization and radio-collaring of tigers around Nagpur, and Dr. Ushma Patel, whose prodigious portfolio includes designing the first prosthetic limb for a wild bird in India (a Black Kite).