various species of injured animals and birds were rescued from different locations and in different circumstances by personnel from the cotigao wildlife sanctuary however now accustomed to the human imprint they find it hard to venture back into their natural habitats says paul fernandespanaji this hospice is slowly turning out to be a permanent sanctuary for some of its patients either immobilized by injury or their vital senses impaired or their survival instincts blunted by confinement they are awaiting their release however onditions seem difficult at the momentmost inmates of the rescued animals centre at the cotigao wildlife sanctuary have been under care and observation for quite some time located near the gateway of the sanctuary barely 1km from the national highway the peace here is soothing and just right for the healing process but born free and having lived in the wild the animals would have loved to have returned to their habitats a peahen and a peacock in an enclosure below the water tank a wild boar grunting alone in an ironfenced pen some spotted deer sharing space with a brahminy kite and a few snakes and crocodiles in an another compartmentalized wing seem eager to break outthey were all rescued from different locations and in different circumstances even if we release the animals after treatment they may not survive because of rivalry they face within their own habitat either from predators or from their own species out there it is the survival of the fittest says shashi kumar chief conservator of forestsexplains an official at the cotigao sanctuary these rescued species either had some body parts badly injured or they were kept as pets in homes they cannot be released in the wild as the human imprint has deeply embedded into them and they have become domesticated spotted deer were mostly rescued from captivity as pets shyamu who stands tall among the lot was found confined in an areca garden nearby when it came off age it started attacking people so we kept the animal at the centre sources said another one rescued by staff from the irrigation department at quepem had sustained injuries on two of its limbs the fawn is fine now the sources added one was rescued from dogs chasing it in a hamlet near the sanctuary the wild boar rescued from salcete is blind in one eye we want to release it and even tried once but realised it cannot negotiate its path properly in the forest we plan to rehabilitate it but if it comes to worse may keep it in they saida brahminy kite is among more than a dozen kites rescued so far we managed to rehabilitate all of them in the past owners clip their feathers to prevent them from flying away sources said however once they are fed calciumrich food they develop feathers and their flight is restored in this case the kite got electrocuted on a wire and she had a slight injury on her left wing