Walking The Bears.pdf

Ofallthesementionedabove,threefactorsseemtobecrucial
fromthepointofsuccessfulestablishmentofreleasedbears
in the wild: Absence of human settlements or trespassing,
low density of wild bears and the availability of abundant
food.Bearrehabilitatorshaveemphasizedthatthebearsbe
releasedinareaswheretheydonotencounterhumansforat
leastamonthafterrelease,andwherewildbeardensitiesare
lowsothattheyarenotchallengedbythem(seeMaughan,
2004;Fredriksson,2005;Beecham,2006).Aremotelocation
with least human disturbance can solve many of the
problemsthatcouldbeanticipatedafterrelease.
Fig 4.2 Top, below: Khari Pong site
Afteraseriesofsiteinspectiontrips,theteamshort-listed
the two locations for releasing the bears (Fig 4.1). Khari
Pongwasselectedforreleasingthefirsttwobears(Lucky
and Leela) and the fourth and fifth bears (Seppa and
Seppi). Tippi in West Kameng district was selected for
releasingthethirdbear,Liza.Boththesesitesarelocated
atthe extremeendsofthepark,Khari(Fig4.2)about15
km away from the center at Seijosa and Tippi (Fig 4.3)
about 50 km away. The contents of the site selection
proformas filled in by the respective site selection teams
havebeenprovidedinAppendixIV.