The bear, hand-reared at the CBRC, were being acclimatised in the wild at Upper Dikarai since September.

Following the soft-release protocol known as “assisted release,” the bear were taken for daily walks in the wild assisted by their caretaker or ‘surrogate mother’. They were encouraged to feed on their natural food, but the diet was supplemented with concentrate food at the deep forest camp where they spent the nights. Initially, the bear returned to their temporary enclosure for the night, but gradually they began to rest outdoors, indicating signs of independence. As the wild instinct took over, the bear detached themselves from their caretaker, and began exploring on their own.

“The five bear are not all of the same age and obviously not all became independent at the same time. Their release date was finalised only after we were satisfied that each one of them was capable of surviving on their own,” said N.V.K. Ashraf, director Wild Rescue Programme of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI).

The bear, radio-collared on June 24, are being monitored by the keepers at the camp. The bear have not returned to the camp but have not ventured very far either.

Radio collaring

“The radio-collars are fitted to provide six to eight months of post-release monitoring data. The collar drops off by the eighth month, before it becomes too tight, by which time the bear is mature enough to survive on its own,” Mr. Ashraf said.

Found in sub-tropical and Himalayan forests (at 1,200 m to 3,300 m) , the Asiatic black bear is listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The species is threatened by habitat degradation, intense human-animal conflicts in northern India and hunting for food and for other cultural uses along the northeastern States. They face poaching for their gall bladder, used to extract medicinal bile for traditional Chinese medicine.

The CBRC was established to rehabilitate Asiatic black bear cubs orphaned by poachers or rescued from village residents. This is a joint venture of the Arunachal Pradesh Forest Department, the WTI and its partner, the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

The CBRC, on the banks of Pakke river, can hold up to 16 bear and provides temporary refuge for rescued cubs. Villagers in Arunachal Pradesh, unaware of the bear’s conservation status, traditionally hunt it for its meat, skin and other body parts. There have been efforts to control this practice but it is still prevalent.

Bear cubs are often taken home by local people, to be kept as pets, and are handed over to the Forest Department when they become a liability, as they approach adulthood.