In Gujarat, help for wildlife no longer begins in forests or formal rescue centres. Currently, it begins with a phone buzzing on a table, a WhatsApp message lighting up a screen, or a shaky voice note from someone who has just spotted a snake in a staircase or a bird trapped on a ledge.

It usually unfolds in a familiar pattern. Someone reads the message, someone responds, and before long, a young volunteer has already picked up their bag and left.

This is not a community with offices or uniforms. It is a loose, fast-moving network of Gen Z volunteers who have become first responders for wildlife across parts of the state. Many of them are students or early professionals who, until recently, were only passive viewers of wildlife content online. They watched rescue videos, shared posts, and scrolled past animal encounters like everyone else. But somewhere along the way, watching turned into acting.

Now, instead of forwarding videos, they forward themselves.

When a message becomes a call to move

The system that holds them together is informal but surprisingly effective. WhatsApp groups act as the central thread, carrying SOS messages about........

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