Six Asiatic black bear cubs, hand-reared by International Fund for Animal Welfare-Wildlife Trust of India (IFAW-WTI) team were released to the Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary (MWS) of Arunachal Pradesh.
The cubs were released in the sanctuary in Lower Dibang Valley district on Saturday and two of them were radio-collared to facilitate post-release monitoring, WTI Assistant Manager Subhamoy Bhattacharjee said today.
The cubs, rescued from various parts of the north eastern region, were hand-reared at the Arunachal forest department and IFAW-WTI run Center for Bear Rehabilitation and Conservation in Pakke Tiger Reserve in East Kameng district.
According to a statement, the cubs were later moved to MWS to begin their acclimatisation in the wild late last year.
The cubs were made to walk daily into the forests as the IFAW-WTI animal keepers helped them learn skills necessary for survival. Over the past few months, the cubs have become increasingly independent of the keepers, the statement said.
The radio-collaring was done by the IFAW-WTI team in the presence of Ipra Mekola, member of State Wildlife Advisory Board, Arunachal Pradesh, it said.
Meanwhile, MWS Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Kenjum Rina appreciated the effort of IFAW-WTI towards wildlife conservation in the state, while G B Pulu, senior wildlife activist of the region praised the team in this regard.
"MWS is identified as one of the best habitats for Asiatic black bears. By releasing the displaced bears inside the sanctuary, we are adding to the richness of biodiversity of this sanctuary," Sunil Kyarong, regional head of IFAW-WTI, said.
The team, headed by Soumya Dasgupta with animal keepers Rama and Chotu, would now monitor the cubs, tracking radio signals emitted by the radio transmitters attached to the collars. The signal would be received by a high frequency receiver, the statement added.
