Another Bear Attack @Sikkim construction site

NAMCHI, November 26: A 19-year-old man working at the construction site at Rabong Buddha Park was mauled by the Himalayan Black Bear this afternoon, grievously injuring him.
John Rai, a resident from Mirik who sustained injuries on his left calf and wounds all over his body was referred to STNM Hospital, Gangtok.
This was the first bear attack in the sub-division even as the locals alerted of the sightings of two bears recently.
A team of forest officials consisting of DFO (Wildlife), Passang Dorjee Bhutia, ACF (Wildlife) Madan K Koirala, BO (Territorial), Anup Bhaniya, BO (Wildlife) Suman Basnet, BO (Wildlife) Dorjee Ongmu Bhutia surveyed the area but could not trace the animal.
Prior to the attack, forest officials had been surveying the area following reports of the wild animal eating at least five pigs from Borong-Ralong area, said forest officials. It may be mentioned here that a forest officials had last year tranquilised a black bear at the same locality.
Even at the time of filing this report, the forest officials along with members from eco development committee, joint forest management committee, Panchayats and locals have been coming through the locality. Cages have also been put at certain places around Rabong, forest officials said over the phone.

Bear Combing operation in Parakha

GANGTOK, November 21: The State forest department yesterday conducted a full combing operation in Parakha area of East Sikkim where bear menace had been reported recently.
A forest team consisting of wildlife and territorial staff led by DFO (Wildlife, East) Karma Legshey and ACF (Territorial, Pakyong) Rajini Bhandari along with Tekabong outpost police combed the entire area of Tekabong Parakha GPU where the bear had been sighted.
The team found signs of bear presence during the combing operation conducted in the area. The bear had also damaged some crops like squash and ginger of three local farmers - Mahananda Kharel, Suresh Gurung and Kush Narayan Sharma.
The forest team conducted an on-the-spot assessment of the damage and assured compensation to the farmers during a sensitization meeting conducted for the villagers and Panchayat members.

Fresh sighting of bears at Gangtok

Fresh sighting of bear at Tathangchen prompts forest dept to set up a trap

GANGTOK, November 18: State forest department is maintaining strict vigil in bear wandering suspected areas even as fresh sightings continue to come from various parts of East Sikkim.
Today, bear sightings were reported from three areas of East Sikkim-Rumtek, Ban Jhakri falls and Tathangchen area of Gangtok.
The forest department received information of bear sighting from Tathangchen area, the same area where a juvenile bear had mauled a grass cutter on November 15.
A forest team led by DFO (Wildlife, East) Karma Legshey along with a team of Gangtok Sadar police rushed to the spot and immediately launched preventive measures. A cage has also been set up in the area in order to trap the sighted bear. Two armed forest guards are presently maintaining vigil on the trap.

Bear sightings were also reported from Rumtek area which was responded by the forest department. Jigmee Bhutia (Range Officer, Fhambongla wildlife sanctuary, east range) along with local territorial staff conducted enquiries at the spot but the bear was not seen again. The locals have been sensitized about the preventive bears by the forest team.
The third sighting was reported from Ban Jhakri falls where a territorial team from Gangtok range was dispatched. However, the bear could not be traced.
The forest department is planning to set up early morning hours patrolling in the area between 4 am to 6 am to trace the elusive bear.
Meanwhile, the cub which had separated from the mother bear at Rakdong Tintek yesterday has gone back to the forest areas. However, the forest personnel are still maintaining vigil in the area.

Operation Clear Bear in Gangtok

GANGTOK, November 17: A nightlong combing operation was conducted by forest department along with Himalayan Zoological Park (HZP) staff and Gangtok police to clear the wooded areas between Kazi road and Tibet road from the menace of transgressing bears, one of which had mauled a grass cutter yesterday at Upper Tathangchen.
A forest department team consisting of DFO (Wildlife, East) Karma Legshey, and Range Officer (Territorial, Gangtok) James Lepcha, Sadar police team led by SI KL Denzongpa and HZP staff led by deputy director Dr Madhan Shankar jointly combed the areas yesterday night which continued till the early morning hours.
The combing-cum-push back operation was done in a coordinated manner and the area which has human habitats has been freed from the bear menace, it is informed. Three bears, one mother and two cubs, had been sighted in the area.
Meanwhile, a cub apparently abandoned by the mother bear has spotted at Rakdong Tintek area. The cub and the mother bear had been spotted by the locals.
The forest team led by Range Officer (Phabongla wildlife sanctuary)
ST Bhutia reached the spot along with the HZP deputy director DrShankar reached the spot and cordoned the area.

The team took steps to ensure that the cub is left alone and there should be no human contact. Reinforcements were sent from the Forest head office to assist the team who combed the area to find the mother bear.
A newly developed cage was also sent to spot to capture the mother bear but the bear has not been traced yet. The cub has been apparently abandoned by the mother bear, it is informed and it is expected that cub could be rescued and taken to HZP if the mother bear is not traced soon

Three goats killed by bears near Pakyong

PAKYONG, November 17: A pair of Himalayan Black Bear has been suspected to be roaming around Thekabung jungle, above Parakha BAC office, about 12 kilometres away from here.
The villagers suspect that the bears have eaten three goats, which were left in the jungle for grazing recently. These goats, the villagers said had gone missing from where they were left for grazing.
The State Forest officials and staff members of the sub-division have been in the look out of the black bears for the past two days. However, the departmental team is yet to trace the elusive animal.
Speaking to this correspondent, BK Dhamala, Range Officer, Pakyong sub-division said, the fresh waste (toilet) of bear has been sighted at Thekabung jungle this morning through which they guess that an adult animal and a cub might be there.
“Due to dense bushes and trees, we were unable to locate as where the bear was hiding,” the RO said adding that the search is still on. He further said that the bear might have eaten the three goats that went missing for the past three days.
“We have informed to the department but still no one has come to the place for tracing and capturing the bear,” Mr. Dhamala said.
On the other hand, local people fear that the animal may enter the village and cause damage.

Gangtokians appealed not to go for morning-evening walks

GANGTOK, November 17: The periphery areas of Gangtok town, especially the wooded spots, have come under the siege of Himalayan black bears leading to an exasperated wildlife authority to appeal the Gangtokians to abort their morning and evening walks for time being even as a 38 year person is battling for his life after an encounter with a juvenile bear today morning near West Point school, Upper Thanthangchen.
This is the second encounter in Gangtok in a span of 12 days after the horrific incident of November 3 where three forest officials were mauled by foraging bear at Upper Sichey.
In between, bears have been flirting round the edges of urban Gangtok right from the top, Bulbuley running past the defence set up by the forest authorities and local administration.
One such bear, a juvenile bear freshly separated from the mother bear, managed to drift right into a small wooded area near West Point School and few meters away from Tashiling secretariat.
Unfortunately, local person Bimal Gurung was collecting fodder for cattle in the area when he ran into the lurking bear who was rummaging in the bushes for food.
In the ensuing tussle, Gurung sustained deep injuries in his head, right hand and chest portion. He is the tenth person to be attacked by bears in Sikkim in the past one month.
After the brief encounter, the bear slipped away into the bushes while the victim was immediately rushed to SNTM hospital here from where he was referred to Central Referral Hospital in Tadong in serious condition.
State forest secretary ST Lachungpa visited the victim at the hospital and provided a financial assistance for Rs. 5000 for the medical treatment of the injured Gurung.
A team from Himalayan Zoological Park (HZP) led by deputy director Dr Madan Shankar, senior wildlife authorities CCF (Wildlife)
HP Pradhan and DFO (Wildlife, East) Karma Legshey and police personnel from Sadar police station combed the area for hours to trace the bear.
“We combed the area and tried to flush out the bear using firecrackers but the bear could not be traced and most probably the animal must be moved to another location,” said Dr. Shankar. He said that the zoo staff had come prepared with a cage and a tranquilizer team to capture the bear.
Meanwhile, three bears – one adult and two cubs- were sighted at nearby Kopibari, Syari at the same time. The zoo staff and wildlife authorities rushed to spot but the bears had disappeared. The bears are said to be still in the vicinity.
The HZP official said that zoo staff has their hands full since November 9 after a bear migrated into the forest areas of the park. We have been responding to the bear sightings and at the same time, we have to take care of the animals in the park also, he said.
According to Dr. Shankar, use of camera traps would be very useful to track the movement of the wandering bears in suspected areas.
Today’s incident takes the number of bear transgressions into human habitats to more than 20 in different parts of the State.
Out of these transgressions, around eight have turned into encounters with humans leading to injuries to ten persons. Forest authorities and people are perplexed by the rash of bear transgressions in the State since the second week of October and have now cautioned the general public living in and around the wooded areas of the capital.
“The bears usually move around in dawn and dusk hours and we appeal the people to refrain from going out for the morning or evening walks for some days,” said CCF HP Pradhan who expressed his apprehensions that the bear threat will last for some more days.
The parents have been appealed to ensure that their children return back to their homes early.
The forest department has already submitted a report to the State Government seeking funds of Rs. 60 lakhs to beef up its resources and infrastructure to combat the bears.
What is driving these bears out of the forest areas and into the urban areas, questioned the people living in the periphery areas of the main town who are now living under a constant fear of the drifting bears.
While the food issue has been projected as the main reason for the migration of the bears, the proliferation of bear transgressions into human habitat areas have become a matter of serious study for the wildlife authorities and other key agencies.
It is claimed that there has been a decrease in the production wild fruits which were a staple diet for the bears in the high altitude areas. This factor coupled with the increasing numbers of other wild animals like wild boars have compelled the bears to come down to lower areas.
The migration of bears is a natural phenomenon but this year, there has a prolific movement of the bears in and around human habitats, Mr. Pradhan said. He pointed out that such sightings are being regularly reported from all parts of the State.
There has been a sighting at Makha recently and at Parakha in East Sikkim today, said the CCF.
“We are continuing our combing operations in the suspected areas,” Mr. Pradhan said, adding that department and the forest personnel have been fully mobilized to limit the damages and push back the wandering bears.

Bear mauls again in Gangtok

Gangtok, Nov. 15: A Himalayan black bear pounced on and mauled a grass cutter near the state secretariat here this morning, barely two weeks after three senior forest officials were injured in a similar attack in a residential area of the town.

Around 10.30am, 38-year-old Bimal Gurung was working on a green patch between Palace Ridge Park and the Tashiling state secretariat when the bear came up from behind him. It pounced on him, its force pushing him to the ground. It is not clear how Gurung, who is hardly able to speak, fended off the bear or why the animal left him.

On a weekday, the area on the outskirts and on a higher level than Gangtok, is fairly crowded with people queuing up to the secretariat which houses the various departments of the government.

Chutim Dorjee Lepcha, the person in whose house Gurung worked, said he heard shouts for help and rushed out. “I saw Bimal bleeding and barely able to walk up the slope towards the road. He managed to tell me that a bear had pounced on him while he was cutting grass. The animal was nowhere to be seen,” he said.

Gurung was rushed to Sir Thutob Namgyal Memorial Hospital where doctors, who attended on him, said his right arm was fractured and he suffered severe injuries on the head, chest and face.

Later, he was shifted to Central Referral Hospital at Tadong.

Forest secretary S.T. Lachungpa visited the injured man at STNM Hospital and handed him Rs 5,000 as initial payment for his treatment.

“I held a meeting with senior forest officials after the incident and it was decided that seven to eight spots in the state capital which is contiguous to forested land would be manned constantly to prevent incidents like this one. We appeal to the people to be very cautious in the morning and at nightfall when bears are mostly active, looking for food,” Lachungpa said. He added that Himalayan black bears were known to attack humans without provocation.

The bear was still at large till late this evening. A team from Himalayan Zoological Park led by deputy director Madan Shankar, senior wildlife officials and local police combed the area. The forest department also received reports today that an adult bear, most probably a female, and two cubs were sighted in Shyari, another locality in the capital.

“We combed the area around the secretariat and tried to flush out the bear using firecrackers but it could not be traced and most probably the animal must have moved to another location,” Shankar said.

Today’s incident takes the number of bear transgressions into human habitation in the state to more than 20 in the past one month, forest sources said.

The department has chalked out a plan that would entail a cost of Rs 60 lakh for better arms, darts, ambulances and other material to tackle the bear menace. However, the report is yet to be submitted.

The last sighting of the animal was on Thursday when three bears, which swam across the Teesta river at the reservoir site at Dikchu in East Sikkim, killed a goat. Forest officials said the increase in the population of bears and other wild animals in the forest areas have led to food competition forcing the animals to migrate into human settlements.

Gangtok Man Injured in in bear attack again

Gangtok,Nov15: A Gangtok man was seriously injured when a wild bear attacked him in Thathangchen area near Guards ground, police said.

The bear attacked the man near Guards ground when he was cutting grass last evening and suffered from bites and scratches all over his face and body following the attack.
Police said the injured were shifted to STNM hospital where he is being treated for his injuries.

Soon after the incident, people took to the streets and the wildlife department conducted a combing operation without any trace of bear .meanwhile,The Forest department has appealed people to avoid morning and evening walk in the area and also not to allow children to stay outside to avoid the frequent attacks by wild bears.

GANGTOK GETS BEAR SCARE

Gangtok, Nov. 14: Residents of the hill town are scared to venture out of their houses after frequent sightings of Himalayan black bears in the area and reports of their attacks on people.

According to the officers of the forest department there have been 18 bear sightings in the last month and six persons have been mauled.

K.S. Bhutia, who stays in Development Area near here, has stopped going out of his house in the early hours. “I used to get up before sunrise to go jogging. Now, I am scared to venture out, thanks to these bears straying into the town. I do free-hand exercises in the safety of my home instead,” said the 37-year-old man.

Adarsh Rai, a taxi driver, said: “There is no substitute for caution. After so many sightings I am scared to stop the car at the roadside, near forest areas.”

Rabin Pradhan, 57, a resident of Sichey, where a bear had mauled three senior forest officials on November 3, said, he is scared to go out of his house and keeps a watch on his children and warns them before they go out.

The forest department has sought Rs 60 lakh from the state government for buying improved dart guns, drugs, ambulances and nets to tackle emergency situations arising out of bear attacks.

The divisional forest officer (wildlife east), Karma Legshey, said four teams, each headed by an assistant conservator of forests, have been deputed in East Sikkim. Range officers have been deputed in the blocks to tackle bears straying into human habitation.

“We appeal to the residents of the area not to take independent action, approach or provoke the animals and not to pay heed to rumours and inform the forest staff or police as soon as a bear is spotted,” said Legshey.

Senior forest officials said conservation efforts and crack down on poaching activities in the forests have led to the rise in the bear population leading to competition for food.

“The bears are being attracted by garbage in urban areas that contain about 70 per cent of edible trash,” said an officer. He added that the use of explosives in hydel power projects and road construction work was also a source of disturbance to the animals.

Meanwhile, a bear that was sighted near the Himalayan Zoological Park, 7km from here, on November 9, is still at large. “It has been sighted after that day, too and guards have been posted in the area to keep a sharp lookout for the animal,” said a zoo official

Food Scarcity drives bears into human habitations of Sikkim

Gangtok,Nov14: Forest Department held a press conference Thursday at the Forest Secretriat on the burning issue of citing bear and their encounter with human beings in all the four districts of the state.
Mr. NT Bhutia, Conservator, Wild life, Mr. HP Pradhan, Chief Conservation Officer (CCF), Wild Life, Mr. Nambi Tshering Bhutia, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Kanchazdonga National Park (KNP) North and Usha Lachungpa, Research Officer spoke to media. They said, so far department has information about 13 bears, of which 9 have been sited and 5 encounters with human beings have been recorded within two months of October and November. “Today (Tursday), one ox became prey of a bear at Nambong near Ralong and a goat was also killed at Dickchu Dam side”, they informed.

Regarding encroachment of bears into human habitation they said, during this month there is lack of food in higher altitudes. Animals come down to villages for search for food.Rrapid increase in bear population has led to scarcity of food. Goshalas are banned in the state from 1998 and restriction in killing of juveniles has also led to increase in the population of wild animals. The wildlife department has planned to have village level meeting to make villagers aware of the threat, the officials informed.

Three bears foray into Dikchu in North Sikkim

Forest Dept to beef up its resources and manpower capacity

GANGTOK, November 13: Matching the labourious efforts of the State forest department to stem the wave of bear transgressions into urban Sikkim, three tenacious bears crossed the river Teesta and killed a goat during their flirtation around Dikchu area while another bear romping around fringes of Himalayan Zoological Park here is still proving difficult to be pinned down.
The forest department informed that three bears had crossed the Teesta river to come close to Dikchu where the animals killed a goat. This latest foray takes the number of bear sightings in the State in the past one month to at least 18.
With bears taking much of newsprint, the forest department called a press conference here today evening to brief the media about the latest updates on the measures taken and proposed to contain the issue.
Chief Wildlife Warden NT Bhutia, Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) HP Pradhan, Chief Conservator of Forests (Territorial & Land Use) C Lachungpa, Senior Research Officer Usha Lachungpa, DFO (KNP/KBR) Nambi Tshering Bhutia and DFO (Wildlife, East) Karma Legshey addressed the media.
Informing that around 18 sightings have taken in all parts of the Sikkim since October 24, the forest officials informed that a strategy has been formulated to address the incidences of bear sightings and encounters with humans.
Dozen of these sightings have taken in West Sikkim alone.
We have set up four teams each headed by Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) in East Sikkim, said the CWW. Range Officers have also been deputed in the BACs to assist the local forest officials in such incidents. The RO has been tasked to ascertain the reports and inform the ACF who will in turn coordinate with police officials for proper handling of the incident.
The senior forest officials stressed that they will be coordinating with the concerned police officers for immediate cordoning of the area where the bear is reported to have been sighted.
The CWW informed that the bear sightings have also been included in an ongoing survey that is presently going on in Pangolakha sanctuary from Rhenock to Tumin. Villagers are being asked about the wild animal sightings and encounters and the survey findings will be the baseline for future sightings, he said.
CCF Pradhan informed that two cages with trap doors which can be easily transported have been developed in case a bear has to be captured. He said that the department is preparing a comprehensive report for beefing up the infrastructure and resources of the department.
The report will be submitted to the State government soon, said the CCF. He said that the department would be requesting for financial assistance worth around Rs. 60 lakhs to procure equipments and protection materials like ambulance, helmets and firearms.
We will also select a team of young Block Officers and give them training to handle such incidents, said Pradhan. The department would also be approaching Wildlife Institute of India and other institutions for training of the frontline staff.
The department also strongly rejected the allegations over the tranquilizer misfire during the Upper Sichey incident on November 3 when an apparently sedated bear mauled three foresters. The department said that lack of visibility and noise created by the crowd could not allow the tranquilizers to have the desired effect on the bear.
Meanwhile various reasons were offered for the rash of bear sightings and encounters in Sikkim.
The senior forest officials opined that increase in the population of bears and other wild animals in the forest areas have led to food competition forcing the bears to migrate into human settlements in search of food which is found in garbage. The population of wild animals has increased due to strong conservation policies of the State government; they said adding that poaching has stopped while their habitats have improved due to the ban on grazing.
Seventy percent of garbage in Sikkim consists of waste food items and the wild animals are induced into feeding from the garbage dumping grounds, said the forest officials. They also claimed that sections of army troops stationed in higher altitude areas are dumping their waste food as food for the bears. The bears are feeding on these dump sites, they said.
“We are indirectly feeding the bears and inviting trouble”.
The department would be soon submitting its concerns to the GOC, 17th Mountain Division along with a CD containing footage of bear feeding the waste food items of the army near the army camps in East Sikkim.
The villagers are being sensitized on the ‘dos and don’ts’ whenever a bear or any other wild animal is spotted close to the villages.
The forest department has appealed to the people not to retaliate or take any independent action or approach the wild animal in the event the bear is sighted in and around human habitations. The people have been appealed not to fuel or heed any rumours which may create panic in the area.
The department has already released the appeals in the local dailies requesting the people not to dispose garbage especially rice beer wastage in and around human habitations. The department has attributed collection of edible wild items from the forest areas for the increase in man-animal conflicts.
Meanwhile, the bear which had been sighted around the Himalayan Zoological Park (HPZ) area on November 9 is still at large despite continued efforts to trace and push back the wild animal into deeper forest areas away from the human habitats.
However, the bear is still elusive and is suspected to have migrated to another area and the danger that the wild animal may wander into a human habitat still lurks.
Dr Madan Shankar, deputy director, HPZ informed that the zoo staff have been searching the bear but could not trace the animal. A trap has already been set up to capture the bear.
The bear was yesterday night sighted at Kazi Dara near Enchey school by a driver and we reached the spot and launched a search but the bear could not be traced, said Dr Shankar. The bear keeps on wandering and we are trying our best to prevent the animal from entering into human habitats, he said.

Bear still at large in Bulbuley in Gangtok

GANGTOK, November 12: Efforts are on to trace and capture the elusive Himalayan Black bear which is presently wandering around the forest covers of Himalayan Zoological Park (HPZ) in Bulbuley since Monday morning.
A trap had been set up by wildlife authorities and HPZ officials led by zoo deputy director Dr Madan Shanker yesterday as the most appropriate measure to address the threat posed by the drifter. The trap in a cage has been set up in the spot most frequented by the bear.
The path leading to the cage has been peppered with food items to lure the bear into the trap.
Once the bear is trapped inside the cage, the bear will be tranquilized and then released into forest areas at higher altitudes far away from human habitats.
Dr. Shanker informed Sikkim Express who is supervising the mission said that the zoo staff is patrolling the road between Tashi view point and 2nd Mile so as to ensure that the bear does not enter the human habitats of Chandmari.
The zoo has been closed for the time being and the staff has camped in the area along with Dr. Shanker to capture the bear.
“The bear is still in the area. Our staff sighted the bear yesterday but the animal is still elusive”, said Dr. Shanker. Combing operation was also launched yesterday and today to trace out the bear.

Himalayan Black Bear killed in fierce infighting in West

GEYZING, November 12: A Himalayan black bear was killed during a fierce infighting among three bears at Dokeythang reserve forest near Geyzing in West Sikkim yesterday night.
The carcass was spotted by the villagers today morning who informed the forest authorities.
It is informed that the three bears had been roaming around the forest areas in and around Geyzing, the district headquarters of West Sikkim. The forest authorities said that the bears attacked each other yesterday night leading to the death one bear.
The locals of Dokathang said that they heard the roars of the bears yesterday night. They ventured out in the morning to ascertain the incident when they spotted two bears guarding the carcass.
Some parts of the carcass like had been eaten up most probably the other two bears themselves, it is informed. The incident took place where a person had been mauled recently.
The fighting could have taken over territory or over a female bear.
The forest personnel of Geyzing recovered the body and took it to a vet for autopsy where it was confirmed that some parts of the carcass had been eaten up.
Later the carcass was cremated at the forest colony, Geyzing in presence of the local people and sub-divisional authorities.
Bears have been sighted at least a dozen times in West Sikkim in the past one month. Similar sightings have taken place in other three districts of Sikkim.
Nine persons have already been mauled by the bear in West, North and East districts of Sikkim during these sightings the bears have started transgressing into human habitats.