Madurai’s Urvanam rescues 7,000 animals

MADURAI: The scene in Padayappa where Rajnikanth rescues a snake from a group of villagers armed with sticks and rods is iconic. When everyone is frightened and scampering at the sight of the snake, the ‘superstar’ gently picks it up and kisses it, charming everyone around.

The 39-year-old PR Viswanathan of Madurai’s Thirunagar is no action hero. His intention is not to charm others by picking up and rescuing distressed snakes, but rather to quell people’s fears. Although fascinated with animals from a young age, Viswanathan found his true calling when he participated in ‘Friends of Forest’, an initiative of the forest department led by DFO Nihar Ranjan. That was a decade ago.

Eventually, Viswanathan and a team of like-minded individuals went on to establish Urvanam, an organisation that works to rescue and rehabilitate animals in distress and has saved nearly 7,000 animals, birds, and reptiles. Urvanam works with the forest department and local authorities on rescue missions and has raised awareness among hundreds of people on the importance of rescue and conservation efforts.

“Though I had a keen interest in animals from a young age, I began actively participating in environmental protection and related arenas in 2014. Around 40 people from my locality came together to form ‘Thirunagar Pakkam’ to take up plantation drives and cleanup programmes. It was after the ‘Friends of Forest’ programme that we formed Urvanam to continue with the rescue work,” says Viswanathan.

Once the organisation receives a call about an animal in distress, particularly from residential areas and other localities, they rescue and rehabilitate the animal before releasing it into the wild.

When the forest department, through a special drive, seized nearly 700 pet parrots, about 100 that required rehabilitation were kept under the care of Urvanam.