1st woman wildlife rescuer in Kashmir, Alia Mir, honoured with Wildlife Conservation Award

Srinagar: Alia Mir, a woman from Jammu and Kashmir has been honoured with the Wildlife Conservation Award by the administration for her conservation efforts in the region. J-K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha facilitated her with the wildlife honour award. Alia is also the first woman from Kashmir who works for the charity Wildlife SOS organisation which is part of the Wildlife Rescue Team.

Alia, who is an eminent sociologist, was awarded at the World Forestry Day celebrations organized by the Jammu and Kashmir Collective Forests. She was awarded the award for her achievements in all aspects of wildlife conservation including bear rescue in Kashmir, rescue and release of wild animals, injured animal care, and wildlife. She expressed her happiness after being honoured. ‘I am thrilled to have been selected for this honour. I am thankful to all the people who trusted me every step of the way and helped me get to this point’, Alia said.

Alia Mir is Kashmir’s first woman wildlife rescuer who is performing her duties as Head of an Education System in the Wildlife SOS Program. She has rescued various wild animals, including birds, Asiatic black bears, and Himalayan brown bears, but is best known for catching snakes. She rescued snakes from corridors, cars, lawns, gardens, and bus rooms in offices and other establishments and released them back into the wild.

Alia grabbed the headlines for an hour long when she led the Wildlife SOS team to hunt down a Levantine viper, a venomous snake, from the then chief minister’s regional residence. According to this, the Viper snake weighed about 2 kg and it is the largest animal biting in a group of wild animals. Similarly, the video of Alia rescuing a snake trapped in a scooter in Jahangir Chowk has also gone viral on social media.