Pakke (Arunachal Pradesh): Five Asiatic black bear cubs of the Centre for Bear Rehabilitation and Conservation (CBRC) moved a step closer to being wild, as phase two of their rehabilitation began last week at the Pakke Tiger Reserve. Two bears were successfully released by the CBRC in Khari Pong about two years ago.

The bears are orphans, whose mothers were killed by poachers, and were hand raised at the CBRC, a project jointly managed by International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), its partner the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and the Arunachal Pradesh Forest Department.

In the first phase two bears were successfully rehabilitated and are now living in the wild with no support from their keepers. They are radio-collared and trained biologists track them everyday as a part of their monitoring activity. Drawing upon this experience a procedure has now been developed and is being applied on another five bear cubs.

“The first three years of the project have been a learning experience for us. Now that we have standardised the right protocol, we are confident of success in this venture. This is the first time that this exercise is being carried with five bears, simultaneously as a group. It will be interesting to know when and how they will start a life of their own, as bears in the wild are solitary by habit,” said NVK Ashraf, Director, Wild Rescue, WTI.

“The local tribespeople enjoy bear meat and after killing the mother sometimes take cubs home as pets for children. As the bears grow larger they cannot deal with them and as they grow attached to them, they cant kill them either. Therefore, a very large number end up in zoos, which have a problem feeding them,” Sunil Kyarong, manager WTI said.

This unique rehabilitation site, located in the dense forests of Arunachal Pradesh directs orphaned bears through an ‘assisted’ release programme. Before the bears are permanently released to the wild they are acclimatised to their future home which they roam free by day but return at night to sleep in the centre. Today, five of the 11 bears at the centre took the next step toward being released to the wild.

The site, chosen for the additional protection it affords the bears from hunters and predators, is the final stop before the bears are permanently returned to their natural habitat.

“Bears across India are disappearing due to increased poaching and habitat destruction,” said AJ Cady, IFAW’s Director of Animals in Crisis and Distress, “This is a unique and vital programme fighting to protect Asia’s black bears and we are working very hard to assure its success as a model for all of India.”

CBRC, which can rehabilitate up to 16 bears at a time, is situated on the banks of the Pakke River amidst lush, tropical, semi-evergreen forests – a perfect dwelling place for bear cubs. The centre is the only project of its kind in India, rehabilitating Asiatic black bears and returning them to the wild.

Asiatic black bears are killed by tribal hunters throughout Arunachal Pradesh and often, when a mother is shot or abandons her cubs, hunters catch the bear cubs. In the past, tribe members often raised the cubs, until the forest department stopped the practice and began sending orphaned cubs to the Itanagar Zoo to live out their lives. It wasn’t until the establishment of CBRC that the process of rehabilitating and returning bears to the wild was undertaken in India.