rescue work and the relevant laws after volunteering for 15 years i started my own ngo wildlife rescue trust in 2006 pawar said his ngo now has more than 2500 volunteers in vadodara bharuch and narmada districts we spend money from our own pockets as saving lives is our passion pawar said from crocodiles and serpents to leopards and porcupines pawar has rescued many creatures ten days after i married i entered my house with a threefoot crocodile that we had rescued my wife thought it was a stuffed toy he saidfourteen years ago jatin rathod set off to rescue snakes and save lives of people in the rural areas of surat as a fresher in the field he had to borrow a steel rod cut to 2022 rathod has a team of 285 volunteers who have played a key role in rescuing leopards in south gujarat rathod said initially i rescued a few snakes under the guidance of my friend mukesh mishra rathod gradually became popular and many young people signed up as volunteers he then formed an ngo friends of animals the volunteers helped create awareness about wildlife in villages an d made it easier for forest department officials to carry out their tasksthe population of leopards has been rising steadily in south gujarat so rathod and his team focus on that big cat they use hightech devices including night vision cameras to monitor leopards four team members needed medical attention after rescuing an injured and cranky leopard at kadod village of bharuch in 201 8 he saidraj bhavsar focuses on not only rescue missions but also on educating people in vadodara on wildlifebhavsar met snehal bhavsar another rescuer during the ops they fell in love married and formed gujarat society for prevention of cruelty to animals gspca in 1994 we were the pioneers in animal rescue work as well as in running awareness programmes raj bhavsar said w e have rescued crocodiles leopards baboons elephants and anteaters snehal has held awareness programmes for forest department officials bhavsar said his team of volunteers rescue crocodiles as well as other reptiles that usually surface in the city during the monsoon we have rescued over 400 crocodiles in and around the city apart from thousands of snakes he saidgspca has teamed up with wildlife sos for rescuing protecting and conserving wildlife in and around urban areassumaiya haseeb has spent over 15 years rescuing snakes and crocodiles the journey began from vadodara when she was 21 and over the past 10 years she has rescued snakes and crocodiles in and around ahmedabadhaseeb is among the 213odd volunteers registered by the forest department as snake rescuers forest department officials said that there are only eight to nine such women rescuers in the cityhaseeb recalled a challenging mission on the outskirts of the city one group wanted to kill a cobra while the other spurred by religious sentiments was serving milk to the snakewe persuaded both the groups that releasing the