“The bear was expected to deliver the cubs in February but unexpectedly gave birth on January 15 at the sanctuary where eight bears are already present,” said Dr Mumtaz Malik, the NWFP Wildlife Department chief conservator, on Tuesday. “The older cub is healthy and normal while the younger one died soon after birth,” he said.
Dr Malik, who is also the Anti-Bear Baiting Programme national coordinator, said that a female bear normally gives birth in February or March during hibernation, after mating in October.
“We have pitched a tent near the centre to closely monitor the bear’s movements in addition to paying special attention to their other requirements,” he said, adding that the newborn cub would be released in the forest habitat after turning one. The bear centre, which was established over an area of 12 acres by the NWFP wildlife department with assistance of the Wild Society for Protection of Animals (WSPA), is a unique facility in Pakistan where abandoned bears are sheltered.
Dr Mumtaz said that most bears in the sanctuary were Asiatic black bears while some were brown bears. The first bear, saved from a bear-baiting event, was taken to the sanctuary in 2001, he said.
The wildlife department has taken several steps for the protection and conservation of bears, said Dr Mumtaz, adding that an information centre at the Kund centre had also been set up to educate people, especially students, about bears and other wild animals.
Reference:courier-gazette
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