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Bear panic in Poonch
Parents fear for safety of children
Tribune News Service

Loran-Mandi (Poonch), October 2
Every morning Nazir Ahmed accompanies his son Danish Nazir, a class VI student of Government Middle School, Danna, here, to his school for the fear that bear can attack his son.

Almost all parents at the local school have to follow the same practice due to the fear of the bear. Locals said the wild bear had unleashed a reign of terror in the area and the Wildlife Department was acting as a mute spectator to the whole scenario.

They added that such was the fear of the bear among the locals that they had to accompany their wards to school or anywhere they go during daytime and even during night hours when they go out to attend the call of nature.

“My son goes to school, which is situated 500m away from home, and every morning I have to accompany him to school as the wild bear can attack him. There are more than 100 students in the local government school here and either mother, father or some elder from home has to accompany their wards since the bear moves freely in the area and we have no means to check it,” says Nazir Ahmed, a resident of Danna.

“Since the department does nothing to check the attacks by the bear, we fear for our lives. On paper, the department makes tall claims of giving us crackers to scare the wild animal as also visiting our area periodically, but it is not taking any measures on ground,” Nazir added.

Muhammad Jameel, another resident, whose cow was killed by the bear a fortnight ago, says: “The bear keeps on moving freely in our area for the past few years. Last year, it attacked and injured two persons - Zaffar Ahmed and Riyaz Ahmed - of our area. About a month ago, the wild animal attacked a local resident Muhammad Ashraf. The attacks by the bear are a common feature here. Whenever we approach officials to keep a check on the bear, they tell us that even as the wild animal injures humans, it shall be protected at any cost and the injured persons will be compensated. The bear also causes damage to maize crop”.

“The department gives us some crackers to burst when the bear comes in the area but these crackers are not affective,” he said. He added that even as the department claims that its personnel visit the area periodically, they are hardly seen in the field. Sources in the department said they could not “totally” control the wild animal. They further said it was the human being which had encroached on the forestland resulting in increase in incidents of man-animal conflicts. They added that department was also lacking staff, which would have enabled it to partially manage the bear.