Kaziranga (Assam), Nov 5 (IANS): Three orphaned bear cubs, raised under human care, were recently moved to Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh to prepare them for release into the wild.
The move comes in the wake of efforts to finalise the national conservation and welfare plan for bears.
While two of the cubs were raised by International Fund for Animal Welfare-Wildlife Trust of India (IFAW-WTI) team at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation near Kaziranga National Park in Assam, the third was raised at the Centre for Bear Rehabilitation and Conservation (CBRC) in Pakke Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh.
Two of the cubs were handed over to Agartala zoo officials by locals in Tripura who found them alone in the wild. The third cub was rescued by the army from a villager at Seppa in East Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh, and handed over to the CBRC.
"The cubs will be walked in the forests daily," said Soumya Dasgupta, IFAW-WTI wildlife biologist. "During these accompanied walks, the cubs learn the ways of the forest instinctively. They will be radio-collared and released after six months."
The Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) is one of the four bear species found in India. They are distributed along the Himalayan region and northeast hills, and are threatened particularly by habitat degradation and conflict with people. There are also numerous cases of cubs being picked up by locals after being found alone.
IFAW-WTI has rehabilitated 30 orphaned or displaced bear cubs in the wild in northeast India. While many of these cubs were handed over to the forest department and then hand-raised in the CWRC, some of them were also rescued from traders," said Sunil Kyarong, regional head IFAW-WTI.
Authorities from the bear range states met in New Delhi Oct 30 to finalise a national plan for the conservation and welfare of bears. The final plan will be released during the 21st International Conference on Bear Research and Management in New Delhi Nov 26-30.
A post-conference workshop on bear rehabilitation is being planned for visiting international delegates at Kaziranga.