PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
Changes in the hibernation pattern of bears caused by climatic changes have been seen to cause issues between humans and bears. In order to form effective strategies to manage human-bear conflict, those who live and work with bears form the key constituents, community-based conservation expert and executive director of American non-governmental organisation Blackfoot Challenge, Seth M Wilson said while delivering a talk on human-bear conflict at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) here on Tuesday.
Addressing the gathering, he said that the conditions in the USA are different than those in India though based on his research and field work, the questions of human-carnivore coexistence are acute outside protected areas. Citing his experience in Montana, USA, he said that change in hibernation patterns caused by climate change had caused issues between humans and bears in the area.
Stating that the efficiency of the conflict management response directly affects the conflict situation, he said that science, coordination, values and decision making are vital to address the human-bear conflict. “It is important to focus on livelihood interests and incentives for locals in such scenarios. The local concerns of material conflict, perceived conflict and social conflict need to be addressed effectively while engaging locals and understanding them,” he said. Recalling an example from the USA, he said that bears were found to be attracted to carcasses of cattle. “We worked with the government on composting the carcasses though it took us two years to reach mutually acceptable definitions and goals with the ranchers,” he said.
WII director GS Bhardwaj recalled, “When I joined the service about 30 years ago, the key phrases we heard were ‘save tiger’, ‘save elephant’ and ‘save nature’. However, now we get to hear people asking to be saved from wildlife. Infrastructure is essential and is needed in a nation like India. At the same time, the human-wildlife interface must be managed efficiently,” he said.
Former principal chief conservator of forest Rajeev Bhartari said that comparatively, being injured in a bear attack is considered to be worse than death due to the injuries and following treatments. “Encounters between humans and wildlife happen and are bound to increase in the future. We need to take steps to prevent the encounters from escalating into accidents,” he said.
WII scientist Bivash Pandav said that rising populations, habitat loss, lack of knowledge and anthropogenic food sources like garbage dumps influence human-bear conflict. He also expressed concern at the indiscriminate lopping of oaks for fodder in the middle Himalaya, especially as oak acorns are also a favoured food source of the bear.
