Saving Bears in India administered Kashmir

November 19, 2009

Bears

get satellite collars in Indian Kashmir[image:

091118/photos_wl_sa_afp/f35496084f73ac4d6b3387f0160fd177//s:/afp/20091118/wl_sth\

asia_afp/indiaunrestkashmirwildlife>AFP/File

– A

Himalayan black bear at the Dachigam National Park, some 25kms from

Srinagar, in October 2009. Wildlife …

Wed Nov 18, 6:46 am ET

SRINAGAR (AFP) – Wildlife experts in Indian-controlled Kashmir have fitted

black bears with satellite-tracking collars to study their behaviour and

help conserve the endangered animals, officials said Wednesday.

" This is the first time in India that Himalayan black bears have been fitted

with a GPS collar, " wildlife warden Rashid Naqash told AFP, adding that

there just 300 of the animals in the region.

These collars will help in studying the behaviour and habitat of the

Himalayan black bear, he said, adding the " step will go a long way in

conserving the endangered species. "

A team of wildlife experts have put collars on three black bears -- a male,

a female and a cub -- in the Dachigam national park on the outskirts of

state's summer capital Srinagar.

Three more are likely to receive them soon, said Naqash, who is in charge of

the park which sprawls over an area of 140 square kilometres (54 square

miles).

Once the bears are caught, their age, weight and sex are recorded and the

tracking system is fitted before they are released back into the wild.

A transmitter in the collar sends a signal to a satellite which relays the

location of the animal to ground stations.

Naqash says the collars could also help prevent bear attacks in the region.

Wild bears have killed more than two dozen people in the past four years and

left 150 injured.

" We can always monitor their movements and sound an alert once they start

moving towards the human habitations, " said Naqash.

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