Dr Prasanta Kumar Boro
Assistant Manager

One of the most popular staffers of Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), Prasanta joined the organisation in December 2004 as an Assistant Veterinary Surgeon with the Mobile Veterinary Service (MVS) unit of Arunachal Pradesh. He is now an Assistant Manager.

Prasanta graduated from the College of Veterinary Science, Assam Agricutural University (AAU) in Guwahati in 2000, and completed his post-graduation in veterinary science from Punjab Agricultural University in 2002. He worked as a Research Fellow in the Department of Veterinary Medicine of AAU for a year and half before joining WTI.

Prasanta has served as a veterinarian to MVS units of Arunachal Pradesh, Upper Assam and Central Assam. He has also served as the in-Charge of the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) near Kaziranga National Park in Assam. He has attended to a number of displaced common as well as rare wild species including rhinos, elephants, tigers, takins and Asiatic black bears among many others. Along with his colleague (and wife) Dr Phulmoni Boro, he now manages CWRC and the MVS-Central Assam unit. He also ensures that accepted protocols in handling, treating, and rehabilitating displaced animals are strictly adhered to.

“Among the most interesting times I have had in my career is the rehabilitation of three confiscated elephant calves in Roing, Arunachal Pradesh in 2004, and reuniting two leopard cubs with their mother in Dibrugarh, Assam in 2007,” says Prasanta.

He has also has attended to several ‘stray’ tiger emergencies. He, along with the Assam Forest Department and other WTI colleagues, successfully rescued a tiger from a well near Tezpur and released it in Nameri National Park in October 2008.  “I can still vividly remember the tiger’s gaze before it disappeared into the forest. I would like to believe that it was a ‘thank you’ gaze,” he adds. “Anyone who has rescued/rehabilitated beings in need can swear how satisfying these experiences can be. I am only grateful that I am one of them.”

Prasanta, some time later, spent several days tracking a tiger in Uttar Pradesh, assisting the Forest Department’s attempts to capture the animal. However, the terrain made live capture extremely difficult. Eventually, the tiger – declared a man-eater – was killed. 

In an unfortunate incident in March 2009, while tracking a displaced tiger in Central Assam, Prasanta was accidentally shot at. He suffered bullet injuries in his right upper arm and chest and had to be rushed 200 km to Guwahati for emergency vascular surgery. While he was at CWRC that summer itself, his right arm has still not healed.

“Yes. That was a dreadful experience but that is not reason enough to give up on one’s dreams. I was lucky to survive and save my arm, thanks to the doctors who treated me. Now I can only try to do my best to regain the full functioning of my right arm and hand so I can be 100% back at work,” says an optimistic Prasanta.

And so, despite still being under treatment, he continues undeterred, following his heart and doing what he does best – saving wildlife in need.

"Prasanta is a wonderful person and gifted wildlife vet. He has faced the challenges of the injury with tremendous endurance and courage. We can only hope that his recovery will be complete as soon as possible," avers a colleague.

Prasanta enjoys playing the guitar. He enjoys sports too, particularly cricket and volleyball. He is also a good cook.