For a State which boasts of harbouring the highest number of elephants in the country (6,395) and the second highest number of tigers (563) besides an increase in capture and relocation of leopards, there are only eight veterinarians spread across 13 forest circles over 31 districts.
What is worse, all the vets are on deputation from the Animal Husbandry Department as there is no separate cadre for wildlife veterinarians in the Forest Department.
But given the intensity of human-animal conflict in south Karnataka region and parts of Western Ghats, the clamour for urgency of creating a dedicated cadre of wildlife vets within the Forest Department is growing.
