Wildlife SOS, a "non-profit organisation" run by two activists, has turned out to be a home for animals and birds that either stray into the city or are losing their natural habitat because of encroachment.

"The organisation was started when we realised that most conservation projects are superficial, aimed at highlighting the individuals involved in them rather than providing realistic solutions," Kartick Satyanarayan of Wildlife SOS told IANS.

Satyanarayan worked as a field biologist with the New York Zoological Society till he founded Wildlife SOS along with Geeta Seshamani, a conservation activist for 24 years.

With around 10 employees in its Delhi and Gurgaon facilities and three rescue vehicles, the group ensures that wild animals straying into the city and captured are released into the nearby forests. Injured and sick animals or birds are treated before being freed.

"At any given time, we have around 100 animals, birds and reptiles in our facilities," Satyanarayan said.

Satyanarayan himself goes out on rescue operations. He said that in one such operation in January 2002, he received a gunshot on his leg when the police aimed at a leopard that had strayed into the Sainik Farms area of south Delhi.

Wildlife SOS started off in 1995 as a project to save the sloth bear - often seen as the dancing bear across the country.

"These bears were severely tortured by the Kalandar tribe, which used to make a living out of them. After some hard work, we set up an 18-acre facility near Agra and have saved 98 sloth bears apart from rehabilitating several Kalandars," Satyanarayan said.

Wildlife SOS got itself registered in January 1998. In Delhi, the NGO runs a wildlife rescue service, a snake cell and an education wing.

The group claims to have saved birds and animals ranging from cattle egrets and painted storks to nilgai (blue bull) and leopards.

The education wing generates awareness and sensitivity for wildlife among the youngsters. Wildlife SOS has a team of lawyers, teachers and physicians on board to guide its functioning.

"In a city like Delhi, what we need is tolerance. And that is what we are trying to spread - tolerance towards the environment and animals. Our aim is to give back something to the environment that we live in," Satyanarayan said.