Roing (Arunachal Pradesh), September 19 2013: Four displaced Asiatic black bear cubs are on their way back to the wild in Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary, after months of care at the Centre for Bear Rehabilitation and Conservation (CBRC) at Pakke Tiger Reserve. At Mehao, they will join two other cubs that are currently being hand-reared, for rehabilitation.

All six bears will be taken for daily walks in the forest, accompanied by caretakers, to gradually acclimatise them to the wild. In the past decade, 29 displaced bear cubs have been similarly rehabilitated by the International Fund for Animal Welfare – Wildlife Trust of India (IFAW-WTI) assisting the Forest Departments in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, under this pioneering ‘walk-the-bear’ programme.

The four cubs were ‘rescued’ from different parts of Arunachal Pradesh. Dr Jahan Ahmed, IFAW-WTI veterinarian at CBRC who was looking after the cubs and is now accompanying them to Mehao, recalled, “The first of the four was brought from a local in Botu Community Forest in Along in April, the second from around Kamlang Wildlife Sanctuary in Namsai Forest Division (FD) in July. Two others were handed over to the Forest Department by a family at Shergaon FD, in June; one had a burnt foot leading to loss of digits… the injury has healed. All the cubs are currently healthy.”

The two older cubs at Mehao were recently shifted by IFAW-WTI team from the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) in Assam.

Sunil Kyarong, Regional Head, WTI, said, “In all these cases, the reasons given are always the same – people find cubs alone without their mothers, pick them up, and the cubs end up under our care. We have been advising people not to pick such cubs, but a greater awareness is needed so as to stop this unnecessary displacement.”

All six cubs will be looked after by Soumya Dasgupta, IFAW-WTI Field Officer working in the Dibang Valley Conservation Project, under whose supervision four hand-reared bears were freed in Mehao in June this year.