Two Asiatic black bear cubs had to be moved from our bear rescue centre (Centre for Bear Rehabilitation and Conservation) at Pakke to a site deep inside Pakke Tiger Reserve. This is a critical part of bear rehabilitation protocols where rescued bear cubs that are hand-raised undergo a phase of acclimatisation and learn the ways of the wild. Under this assisted release protocol, bear cubs live for a couple of months in a safe housing on site; they go on daily wild walks with the keepers who keep an eye on the bear cubs as they learn to look for food and to fend for themselves. They return to the safety of the cage at night. With time, the keepers distance themselves from the bears and this time of distancing increases as they reduce their dependency on keepers for food or safety. There will come a time when they may not return to the cage and will go forever wild.
Led by Dr Panjit Basumatary, our veterinarian, this team had conducted due recess of the site where they would camp out with the bears. Rainfall in this landscape has destroyed all forest roads and the team had to cut through fallen tree trunks and move rocks on slushy jungle trails to facilitate the vehicle crossing.
We are immensely proud of this team, some of who will camp out in the forest with the bears for a couple of months without any infrastructure. It takes complete dedication and resolve to fulfill our commitment to keep wildlife #ForeverWild.