Guwahati: A first ever inter-state transit of an infant bear cub from Guwahati state zoo in Assam to Centre for Bear Rehabilitation and Conservation (CBRC) in Arunachal Pradesh is a pioneering step forward for conservation of Asiatic black bears covering two bio-geographic regions in north east India . Increasing human population and declining forest cover have endangered wildlife, forcing many wild species to extinction.
The six month old bear cub was brought to Guwahati zoo by Anurag Singh, the DFO of Lumding forest range on 4 th June for rehabilitation and care. The bear cub was found abandoned near village Bamunigaon on 30th March by the forest officials of Hojai division of Lumding reserve forest. The infant bear cub was then only a few days old, when the DFO decided to hand raise the animal in his official accommodation.
Singh fed the cub with cow’s milk, banana, watermelon and chapatis unaware of the demands of a growing cub and the huge costs that he would incur. Two months later, Singh approached Guwahati Zoo for help.
According to Murali Pai of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), “the cub spent about a month in the zoo. DFO Narayan Mahanta approached us with a request for its rehabilitation. After assessing the re-habitation potential of the animal, WTI agreed to take the animal”
Transfer of wild animals from zoos to any other place requires permission from the office of the Chief Wildlife Warden (CCF) of the state and is allowed only for the purpose of rehabilitation and assessment of the welfare need of the animal. Since WTI does not have bear-rehabilitation facility in Assam , it requested the CCF for transfer of the animal to CBRC in Arunachal Pradesh. The positive response from the CCF enabled the pioneering transfer of a wild animal from Assam to Arunachal Pradesh in the interest of conservation of the Asiatic black bear.
Dr. NVK Ashraf, Director of Wild Rescue Programme of WTI said, “The bear cub is temporarily shifted to Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) Kaziranga enroute to CBRC in Arunachal Pradesh. A new quarantine enclosure for the bear cub is being prepared for his arrival at CBRC. We did a medical examination of the animal for tuberculosis, since it is common among zoo animals and require a thorough check for the disease. Animals in captivity and particularly in a zoo environment, there is fair chance of communicable diseases to migrate from other animals in the zoo”.
The bear cub will be released back to the wild in Arunachal after it is adequately rehabilitated.
CBRC in Arunachal Pradesh and CWRC in Assam are two pioneering rehabilitation centers for wild animals in the region that were jointly set up by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and USA based International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). Separate MoU’s were signed with the respective Forest Departments of the two states for setting up the two centers.
These centers attend to calls of distressed, displaced or abandoned wild animals that require immediate help. The scientific expertise of the staff at both the centres has resulted in innumerable cases of rescues and releases of wild animals.
Pix credit: Anjan Talukdar
