TACO, The Animal Care Organization, a first-of-its-kind animal welfare project, under the aegis of the Anil Agarwal Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Vedanta Group, granted INR 1 crore to the Forest Department, Government of Rajasthan on International Tiger Day.
The grant shall be utilized by the Government to enhance the wildlife conservation activities at Ranthambore National Park. The grant will aid procurement of patrolling vehicles for the National Park majorly famous for its Royal Bengal Tigers. This will strengthen the surveillance and monitoring infrastructure and would prevent poaching in the forest area. The grant comes as part of the International Tiger Day celebrations to raise awareness about the conservation of wild cats.
On the occasion, Ms. Priya Agarwal Hebbar, Director, Vedanta Limited said “As we are nearing 50 years of tiger conservation in India, it’s time to reflect on what more we can do for our wildcats. Though India is number one in terms of tiger population, at nearly 3,000, our responsibility is to protect and provide them a sustainable yet safe environment to flourish. With TACO, we are committed to provide world class facilities to improve the future of animals across the states. In this pursuit, I am pleased to pledge our support for the Ranthambore National Park”
After the inception of “Project Tiger” by Government of India, several initiatives to stop poaching, encroachment and ensuring safety of tigers are being regularly undertaken by the Government of Rajasthan. Ranthambore National Park, located in Sawai Madhopur District of Rajasthan is one of the biggest and most popular tiger reserves of the country. The national park in Rajasthan is primarily known as the home to Royal Bengal Tigers with 70 Tigers. Other than this, the national park also has a rich population of leopards, sloth bears, several deer species like chital (spotted deer), marsh crocodile, palm civet, jackal, desert fox etc.
Meanwhile, TACO also held celebrations with school children by organizing a painting competition at its animal shelter in Faridabad, Haryana, to increase awareness about the conservation of the majestic wild cat. TACO’s shelter is a dedicated center to serve injured, malnourished, and sick cattle with best of medical care and balanced diet for healthy growth.
Under the TACO initiative, Anil Agarwal Foundation plans to support and strengthen veterinary healthcare services across Delhi-NCR and Mumbai regions. The project is currently functional in the National Capital Region (NCR), with an initial corpus of Rs. 100 crores and will be further expanded across multiple other States in India. The organization has a three-tier structure which will work in tandem to create global standards in animal welfare.
The proposed multi-specialty veterinary hospital will focus on advanced animal healthcare, preventive veterinary care, spay and neuter programme, diagnostics, and mobile emergency care units. The Animal shelter will focus on rescue, rehabilitation, geriatric and palliative care, animal housing services, nutrition and well-being, while the Academy will provide short-term courses for different target groups including veterinarians, paraprofessionals and animal lovers.