PAKHUI: The six of them will have to bear it just a little more. Two of them have been helped take a step closer to wilderness; the others are just biding their time. The six in question are Himalayan black bear cubs. Housed at the Itanagar Zoo, two have them have been moved to the rehabilitation centre created for them at the Pakhui Wildlife Sanctuary in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. The four others are awaiting their turn at the zoo.Arunachal Pradesh is a biodiversity hotspot having a high diversity of wildlife. Seventyfive per cent of the state’s landscape is covered by a mosaic of different forest types. Threats to these forests are increasing from anthropogenic pressures like slash and burn agriculture, communication, development, human settlement, and tourism, leading to habitat fragmentation, degradation, and destruction. This indiscriminate and mindless destruction of Arunachal’s forests has become the biggest threat to its wildlife.

But the case of the Himalayan black bear (Ursus thibetanus), found in large numbers around the Itanagar Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh, is unique. Tribesmen kill semi-hibernating bears for meat and fur, and the cubs are “rescued” (read, picked up) to be kept as pets at home for children to play with. As they grow larger they become aggressive and therefore, handed over to the zoos. The practice came to the notice of Sunil Subba, a Project Officer with Wildlife Trust of India, who along with the then divisional forest officer of the Pakke wildlife sanctuary, C. Loma, decided to take up the cause of the cubs.

Sunil, while on other duties, trekked from village to village, and with the help of aware residents and local NGOs, tried to persuade the tribals, who still retained them, to give up the bear cubs. This persistence started having an impact on the villagers who saw sense in the reasoning. The Zoological Park in the state capital of Itanagar has thereafter been receiving a 2-5 month-old bear cubs from the adjoining Itanagar Wildlife Sanctuary frequently.

The Itanagar Zoo currently has six such bears (three males and three females) of varying age groups. Two of them are only three months old. Two females are eight months old and the rest are between 2-4 years of age. They are being maintained in sub-optimal enclosures due to the lack of funds. As a result, the bears may lose their conservation and reintroduction potential due to behavioural problems caused by diseases, emotional deprivation, inadequate veterinary care, nutritional imbalance, and poor hygiene.

Wildlife Trust of India along with the Government of Arunachal Pradesh, has been trying to address this problem by creating a rehabilitation and release site for this species in Arunachal Pradesh. Bear rehabilitation has not been attempted in India perhaps due to the potential of bear-human conflict following release. However, brown bears, American black bears and Himalayan black bears have been successfully rehabilitated and released elsewhere.

WTI, in collaboration with the forest department of Arunachal Pradesh, is establishing a site in Pakhui Wildlife Sanctuary for keeping the six bears currently and for any more bears, which may be rescued in the future. Work on the rehabilitation site is scheduled to begin in November 2002. All efforts will be made to eliminate unnecessary human contact.

The three-year-project project, a joint initiative of WTI and the Arunachal Pradesh department of environment and forests, will be supervised by Dr Ruben Solomon, a biologist who has been appointed as Project Manager. Mr C Loma, Deputy Chief Wildlife Warden, Government of Arunachal Pradesh, is the Project Leader. The department will provide the logistics and facilitate the smooth conduct of the project. The initial funds for setting up the rehabilitation project site came from the animal welfare division, Union ministry of statistics and programme implementation. The British High Commission has agreed to bear the bulk of the recurring costs over the next three years.

Since many of these bears have been in captivity for varying periods of time, they would need a soft release programme. The rescued bears will be subsequently rehabilitated and released in Eagle Nest Wildlife Sanctuary. The most important aspect of any bear rehabilitation is the elimination of human contact. Eagle’s Nest is an isolated area with negligible human population. Here, bears will be confined in the most natural environment and the most natural diet possible.

The first four bears to be released will be radio-collared for post-release monitoring. All restockings and reintroductions will conform to the IUCN/SSC guidelines laid down by the Reintroduction Specialist Group.