Wildlife dept fails to check bear attacks
Shariq Majeed
Tribune News Service

Danna-Loran (Poonch), June 9
Protecting wild bear is fine but should that be at the cost of human lives? In this area, which lies on the border of Poonch district and Kashmir province, people’s lives are being put at risk by the Wildlife Department.

It has literally failed to check attacks by the wild bear. The bear has not only terrorised people of the area, which lies close to a forest, but every year it causes severe damage to maize crop, the only crop grown here.

The locals complained that with the state Wildlife Department literally failing in managing the activities of the bear, the wild animal has created panic in the area injuring people and also causing damage to the crop.

They said since the bear moves in the area without any check, they were facing problems in sending their wards to schools.

The locals further said whenever they approached the department to keep a check on the bear, they told the people that the wild animal should be protected first.

They added that the department told them that even as the wild animal injures humans, it should be protected at any cost and the injured would be compensated.

“The bear has injured more than 12 persons past year. It also causes damage to maize crop. The department has failed to check the animal as it moves freely in the villages of this area”, said Muhammad Akbar Parrey, sarpanch of Danna village, whose relatives Muhammad Rafiq and Muhammad Latief survived an attack last year.

“Whenever we approach the department with a plea that they should control the wild animal, they tell us that they are helpless as their duty is to protect wild animals. They gave us some crackers to burst when the bear comes in the area but these crackers are not affective”.

Sources in the department said they could not “totally” control wild animals. They further said it was the human being which had encroached on the forestland resulting in increase in the incidents of man-animal conflicts.

They added that the department was also lacking staff, which would have enabled it to partially manage the bear.

Regional wildlife warden PK Singh said, “Since humans have encroached on the habitat of wild animals, this has resulted in increase in the man-animal conflicts”.

He said the department was also facing shortage of staff to keep a tab on the movement of wild animals in the area.