India to estimate population of its four bear species for first time

The Wildlife Institute of India will conduct a five-year exercise to estimate the population of India's four bear species. The study will primarily focus on the high number of human-sloth bear conflict cases in protected areas across the country.

The Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, will undertake an exercise to estimate the numbers of all four species of bears found in India, an official told ANI on the condition of anonymity. “Yes, we are undertaking an exercise that will primarily look at human-sloth bear conflict in protected areas across the country,” said the official. “We will also be forwarding proposals for the other three bear species,” he added. “The final numbers will be known only five years.”

India's Four Bear Species

India is home to four bear species—Himalayan brown bear, Asiatic black bear, sloth bear and sun bear. They range widely across the country and inhabit specific areas. The Himalayan black and brown bears are found in the Himalayan parts of India across Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh. The sloth bear is found in dry and moist deciduous forests, thorn forests, and scrub lands across the Indian subcontinent ranging from India to Nepal to Bhutan and Sri Lanka. The sun bear is the smallest member of the bear family and is primarily found in dense lowland forests of Southeast Asia, with a small part of its range overlapping into Northeast India and Bangladesh.

Human-Bear Conflict

As far as human-bear conflict goes, cases regarding the sloth bear are particularly high across most of India. Conflicts between people and Himalayan brown and black bears is well-documented in the Himalayan regions. Human-Sun bear encounters are rare. (ANI)

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