MUZAFFARABAD: Two orphaned Asian black bear cubs found on Line of Control (LoC), dividing the disputed terrotory of Jammu Kashmir State, rescued a year ago near LoC, were given shelter at the Wildlife and Fisheries department in a Dwarian village in Neelum Valley area of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Electric fence erected along the de facto border between two nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan have taken a toll not just on humans. Wildlife has also been badly afflicted in one of the world’s most militarised regions.
The latest victims of the decades-old conflict are two orphaned Asian bear cubs found near Dwarian area of Azad Kashmir.
The two bear cubs, who were given names of Sharda and Narda, were discovered last year by villagers at an altitude of 14,000 feet (4,270 m), alone, and unable to open their eyes, said an official of Wildlife and Fisheries Department of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Forest Guards and volunteers reconnoitred the area for about two months but did not find any trace of the she-bear, the mother of cubs on this part of LoC, the official said.
The mother bear may have been killed on the Indian side of the border by a landmine or a shell, he said, with her cubs crawling across to be spotted by the villagers.
The duo was nursed with bottled milk for two months, then raised on fruit and veggies and gradually introduced to other foods including wheat and maize.
Now they keep busy climbing mulberry and walnut trees on the compound where they are kept, or sometimes onto a tin-roof shelter that houses a hatchery for rainbow trout, drawing a daily audience of both children and adults.
This compound is just outside the village of Dwarian, some 106 kilometers northeast of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Kashmir. The area’s fast-flowing rivers and streams, waterfalls, glacial lakes and forests make it popular with tourists.
Since 2004 there has been a 12-foot high fence cutting through the area to mark the border. India built the fence and says it is meant to keep militants from crossing, Geo News reported.
But it has also made it nearly impossible for wildlife to move freely in their natural habitat.
The bear cubs are just one example. They were born across the divide and when their mom got killed close to the fence they crossed over through some burrow or eroded portion of land (beneath the fence), said the official of Wildlife and Fisheries Department.
The official recalls that a few years back department staff spotted a dead black bear in a ravine far from the fence.
One leg had apparently been blown off by a landmine and it had fallen into the ravine and died.
“This is what … would be happening with many wild animals but we rarely come to know about it,” he said.
