WILDLIFE RESCUE- REPATRIATION

ASHA GOES HOME TO INDIA

On the 19 th of May 2006, nearly 20 months after her confiscation from the illegal pet trade , Asha the rhesus macaque finally left Singapore shores for her new life at a wildlife rescue centre in India .

Acres personnel visited Asha at her temporary home in the quarantine facility at Delhi Zoo the day after her journey home and were very happy to see her looking relaxed and content, munching on her food and playing with the branches and leaves decorating her cage. She even allowed them to groom her which was quite amazing as she had been very aggressive towards people in all her time in Singapore . We are sure that she, like many animals, really knew when people were trying to help her.

Following her period in quarantine, Asha will be moved to the Wildlife SOS Wildlife Rescue Centre near New Delhi .

At last, Asha has a secure future in a permanent home at a sanctuary where she will be reunited with others of her own kind.

It took a lot of hard work and invaluable help from some true animal friends to finally get through all the paperwork and red tape to get Asha back to India, plus a considerable amount of money.

On behalf of Asha, we would like to thank the following who made her journey home possible:

Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority, Ananda Bhavan Restaurant, Andrew Wang and his expedition team, Dawn Lee, Dilip Khatau, Florence Lee, Geraldine Brogden and her class at UWCSEA, Indian Wildlife Authority, John Chan, Loo Hwei Kwin, Maneka Ghandi, Marie Gupta, Meridian Junior College (Class 05S312), Kartick Satyanarayan, Singapore Zoo, Sri Sreenivasa Perummal Temple, Wildlife SOS, Zarin Patel.

ASHA'S STORY

Asha cut a lone, desperate figure when she was found by Acres being kept as a "pet at a warehouse area in Singapore in 2004. A chain around her neck restricting her movement and deprived of companionship of her own kind- the suffering and mental anguish for such a naturally sociable animal must have been great. A non-native species, Asha was probably smuggled in to Singapore by ruthless animal traders.

Asha was rescued from her plight in 2004 by Acres. As Singapore has no rescue centre for confiscated animals, Acres promised to send find a new safe home for her so that she would not be euthanised. The Singapore Zoo kindly agreed to house her until she could moved to a new permanent home.

Acres secured Asha a home at the Wildlife SOS Sanctuary near New Delhi, India, where the rhesus macaques is a native species. However, that was just the start and it took months and months of letter writing, email correspondence and phone calls to get all the permits necessary to send her to her new home. 

We are delighted that Acres has been able to give Asha the second chance at life which she so deserves after her years of mistreatment at the hands of people.

Asha's story clearly illustrates the need for a rescue centre in Singapore to act as a halfway house for those animals rescued from the illegal wildlife trade who are awaiting repatriation to their country of origin.

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