Malayali youngster learns wildlife rescue watching Bear Grylls, gives CPR to snakes, fawns

Bear Grylls is a British adventurer, but for 36-year-old Lijo K J from Kecheri, his videos were lessons in the wild. Combined with what he learnt watching his father, George, a daily-wage labourer, rescue snakes from wells, they helped shape Lijo into a self-taught wildlife rescuer. Today, he handles everything from bees and snakes to elephants, leopards and tigers.

"Since childhood, I have seen my father rescue king cobras and other snakes. Initially, I was afraid, but over time I began playing with animals and eventually, the instinct to rescue them grew in me," Lijo said. "Over the years, I trained myself through Bear Grylls' videos, other YouTube videos and my own research. I constantly keep myself updated on new methods of rescue and learn from every experience I have," he said.

"My first rescue attempt was when I was in fourth standard. I spotted a snake trapped under bricks at a demolished building on my school premises. I used a stick to move the bricks so that the snake could get to safety. Since then, I haven't looked back. Every living being, big or small, deserves to be safe," Lijo said.

Lijo has tried his hand at other jobs, but none gave him the satisfaction he found in rescuing animals. "This is both my profession and my passion," he said. Lijo does charge a service fee for rescues, but he added that he does not take payment from people who cannot afford it. "They call me when they have no other option, so I understand their situation," he says.

Lijo said one of the experiences he can never forget was performing CPR three times in a single month last year, including on his maternal uncle during a cardiac arrest. A video of Lijo performing CPR on a fawn later went viral on social media, garnering millions of views and a comment from cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. "I also performed CPR on a snake," he said.

But wildlife rescue has repeatedly put Lijo's own life at risk.

A few months ago, while handling bees on top of a mango tree, a swarm attacked him. "I came down only after completing the task at hand, but soon realised that I had been affected and was not getting enough oxygen. I asked my friend to drive the car and told him not to be scared, but to administer CPR if I went into cardiac arrest," he recalled.

The journey to the hospital was made more difficult by a traffic jam. His friend got out of the car and frantically tried to move vehicles to clear a path. "By the time I reached the hospital, I was completely blind. All I could see was white. For a second, I thought I had died. After six hours of treatment, I was better," Lijo said.

"To those who say rescue operations should always be safe for both the rescuer and the animal, I say that a rescuer can never be completely safe. You cannot save a life without taking some risk," he said.

Just three weeks later, he was back at work. Suspended by a safety belt and rope from a 260-foot-high building in Kaloor, Ernakulam, he handled and removed around three beehives. "Most rescuers are hesitant because, at that height, there is nowhere to go if the bees attack. But the rescue was successfully completed," he says.

Lijo is also part of a rescue team under veterinary doctor Dr David Abraham in Palakkad. He has participated in rescue missions with forest officials and dealt with a wide range of animals, including tigers, leopards, elephants, Indian gaurs and various species of snakes.