Courage tides over ineptitude
& crowd

Himalayan Black Bear safely captured at cost of injuries to three forest
personnel

Sikkim
Express Report -GANGTOK, 3rd November 2009: An unruly mob, ineffective
tranquilizers and unimaginative containment measures severely handicapped the
brave forest and police officials in a near disastrous mission to capture a
wandering Himalayan Black Bear at Upper Sichey near
East District Administrative complex today that took a senior forest official
and a DFO to the brink of death before a heroic cop firmly stood his ground to
save the day.

Forest joint director JB Subba,
DFO (East) BB Gurung and Himalayan Zoological Park
medic assistant Sonam Tshering
Lepcha sustained deep injuries during the mauling by
the rampaging fully grown bear at the bamboo thicket above the road near the
administrative complex.

And it all happened because of around seven tranquilizers
which had been rifled into the bear in regular intervals refused to sober down
the bear with generous contribution of noise from the crowd which had gathered
in large numbers to watch the tamasha seriously
jeopardizing the containment measures that had been carefully put into place by
forest and police officials with great risk to limb and life.

It is a miracle that there were no casualties not from the
claws of the bear but from the stampede of the crowd on three occasions.

The whole incident began early morning when Mrs Pema Zangpo
Gurung spotted the animal at around 7 am in her small
field at Sateybari, Upper Sichey.
It was her husband who recognized the animal as a bear and he immediately
alerted the local police and forest staff. The bear had strayed into the suburb
during the night hours in search of food and apparently camped at the field. Once
informed, the local police and forest staff reached the spot led by Chief
Wildlife Warden NT Bhutia and CCF (Wildlife) HP Pradhan. The area was cordoned off and a trap was laid even
as the bear lay hidden in the field. At around 10:30, the first tranquilizer
was pumped into the bear through a draft fired from a rifle. By then, the whole
area was surrounded by curious onlookers whose numbers grew in strength despite
repeated requests them to vacate the area.

At 11: 12 am, two tranquilizers were shot into the bear from the rooftop of a
nearby building. Instead of having a debilitating effect, the shots seemed to
have injected a fresh bout of energy into the bear that jumped out of the field
with a roar, bypassed the trap and somehow managed to reach to the upper road
and wilted away into the bamboo thicket even as the crowds went helter-skelter
with terror.

By this time, additional forces from the Sadar police station led by PI Tshering
Sherpa and more forest officials arrived at the scene where the bear was
cornered. SP (East) Dr MS Tuli was also present at
the spot to supervise the capture mission. Despite poor visibility, two more
tranquilizers from the rifle and one from a pistol seemed to have shown its
desired effect on the bear. Close observations gave a false sense of security
to the people and the authorities leading to the signal given for the cage to
be hauled up to the spot. Then at 12:30, disaster struck as the bear roared
back to life and in lightening speed jumped on those nearby. Joint director JB Subba was the first victim as the bear mauled him and took
him down rolling. DFO (Territorial, East) BB Gurung
tried to come to the rescue and a chunk of meat from his left thigh was clawed
out when the bear lashed on him.

Himalayan Zoological Park
medic assistant Sonam Tshering
Lepcha dislocated his left arm when pulled down by
the bear. All happened in seconds and if the mauling was allowed to prolong a
few seconds more, then there would have been causalities. Fortunately, Sadar Police station SI Sameer Pradhan displayed great courage as he stood his ground and
counterattacked the bear with whatever he could lay his hands on. His courage
caused the bear to flee in the opposite direction giving enough time for those
being mauled to scamper to safety. Blood tearing down his face, Subba was immediately rushed to the STNM hospital followed
by the other two victims. The horrific incident shook all with questions
abounding over the effectiveness of the tranquilizers. A couple of more
tranquilizers were shot into the bear that finally slumbered into a state of
unconsciousness even as a standing order to terminate the bear had been issued
by the Chief Wildlife Warden.

The
bear was hauled into the cage and into the forest vehicle at 1:20 am ending a
six hour long standoff. The bear was whisked away to the Himalayan Zoological
Park where it will put under observation for some time, forest officials said. The
bear could have probably slipped into the urban areas in search of food from
the nearby Rateychu Reserve Forest, it is suspected.

Despite
the threat posed by the huge bear to the human lives, the forest and police
officials took great precaution and risked their lives to safely capture the
Himalayan Black Bear, a highly endangered wildlife species listed in the
Schedule I of the Protection of Wildlife Act.

Meanwhile, the injured Subba has
been airlifted to Siliguri for further medical
treatment while the DFO and the medic assistant are being treated here in
Gangtok.

At the same time, questions have crept over the reasons for the increasing
wanderings of wild animals into human habitats. The Upper Sichey
bear is reported to have been wandering in and around the area up to Arithang for the past one week. The animal was in search of
food and as forest officials point out, the increasing loss of their food items
from the jungles have forced these animals to come into conflict with humans. Recently,
a bear had jumped on a group of farmers and clawed away a chunk of meat from
the leg of a 42 year headmaster at Sangshu, Dentam in West Sikkim yesterday.