Walking The Bears.pdf

prevent the bears from digging their way out side
the enclosure.
� The enclosure shall be in place before the
bears are moved to the field(refer illustration
on the next page).
1.5.4 Training and capacity building of
CBRC personnel in Russia
There has been a constant exchange of project
personnel between CBRC and OBRP since 2000
(Fig 1.9). As part of the staff exchange program
between CBRC, Wildlife Trust of India and
OBRP, International Fund for Animal Welfare, a
team of the CBRC’s project personnel made a
study tour to OBRP in Bubonitsy, Russia in
April 2005. The three member team included
the Project Leader and the Deputy Chief
Wildlife Warden of Arunachal Pradesh Mr. C.
Loma, the then Regional Manager Dr. Murali
Pai and the CBRC veterinarian Dr. Prasanta
Kumar Boro.
The team members were apprised of the strict
hands-off approach the OBRP personnel follow
while rehabilitating European brown bears. Unlike
at CBRC, brown bear cubs at OBRP are released at
their young age of seven months when they are
saidtoattainselfsufficiency.Theteamtookpartin
the routine husbandry practices, veterinary care,
release site selection exercises and post-release
monitoring of soft released bears in Bubonitsy (Fig
1.9). The study was of immense use to the team
members in learning how bear cubs are
rehabilitated in temperate counties and how
differentaretheirconditionswhencomparedtothe
conditions at CBRC. A detailed report of the
training program in Russia has been given in
Appendix II.
1.5.5 First International workshop on
bear rehabilitation in Russia
International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)
organized the first international workshop on
“Bear Species Rehabilitation, Release and
Monitoring” in Russia in Tver Region at the
Orphan Bear Rehabilitation Project (OBRP) in
Bubonitsy, Tver Region, Russia. The aim of the
workshop was to enable all participants share
and contribute their knowledge, experience
and expertise on the critical components of
bear rehabilitation, so that the best practices in
bear rehabilitation could be documented and
made available to all rehabilitators. Such an
information sharing would enhance the
survival of released bears and minimize the
risk of released bears coming into conflict with
people.
The workshop attracted 42 participants from
different parts of the world, working on five
species of bears, namely the European brown,
American black, Asiatic black, Andean
spectacled and the Malayan sun bear. The
workshop was an ideal platform for CBRC