A Home For Injured An Orphan Animals In India

Dr. Prakash Amte and his wife Dr. Mandakini Amte have an unusual way of living: they have set up a wild animal asylum in their courtyard. This couple has spent decades changing the lives of the local community in Hemalkasa, Maharashtra, protecting tribespeople and the local fauna alike.

In the early 70s, Dr. Prakash Amte and his wife Dr. Mandakini Amte were taking a walk in Dandarayana forests of Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, when they came across a group of tribal people returning from a hunt with a dead monkey. Upon taking a closer look, the couple noticed that a baby monkey, still alive, was clinging to her dead parent, attempting to suckle her breast. The sight was heart-breaking.

For the Madia-Gond tribal community, hunting was not recreational - they survived on it. At the time of the encounter, Dr. Prakash requested the tribals to give him the baby monkey in return for rice and clothes. They reluctantly agreed.

The red-faced baby monkey arrived at the couple's home in the village of Hemalkasa and soon became a member of the household. Dr. Prakash named it Babli after the tribal god worshipped by the Madias.

Never before had wild animals lived in such close contact with humans. The issue became a matter of concern for the government. Objections were raised against the breeding of wild animals in village settings. Regulations demanded that the wild animals be caged. Aniket Amte, the doctor couple’s son who had a rather Jungle-book style childhood, describes how he preferred the way things were before the cages were erected.