Bears frequenting human garbage dumps in Kashmir mostly eat plastic, chocolates, organic food waste: Wildlife SOS

Srinagar, July 25: With the preliminary field study showing that 75% of the diet of bears who frequented human garbage dumps included plastic and chocolates, the Wildlife SOS has embarked on a groundbreaking research project in studying Himalayan bears.

The project entails tagging bears with GPS radio-collars to evaluate the habitat, its use pattern, foraging behaviour, its availability and identify specific causative factors leading to human brown-bear conflicts in Sonmarg – the Central Wildlife Division of Kashmir, said the organisation, in a press release, issued on Thursday.

"Kashmir’s Sonmarg region is a refuge for brown bear habitats, and the unplanned disposal and treatment of waste here is a major concern. The problem prompted a preliminary field study by Wildlife SOS in 2021, and it was found that 75% of the diet of the bears who frequented human-made garbage dumps included plastic, chocolates and organic food waste. It resulted in carrying out a radio-collaring project on Himalayan brown bears in Sonmarg, in conjunction with the J&K Wildlife Protection Department in the Central Wildlife Division of Kashmir," it added.

Some of the primary objectives of the study, as per the handout, is to understand the bears’ habitat utilisation, movement pattern, habitats of males and females, activity pattern and hibernation period, to name a few. In this phase, our field team radio-collared six brown bears, which included four males and two females, read the handout.

“Animal range use enables us to understand the habitat they use, corridors, and to know the areas which overlap with human habitation. Thus, ranging studies are essential to understand the fundamental ecology of the species and implement better conservation practices,” said Aaliya Mir, Program Head- Jammu & Kashmir, Wildlife SOS.

Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder and CEO, Wildlife SOS said that they opted for an animal welfare perspective to examine the impact of living in a human-dominated environment on the welfare of brown bears. "Our team used animal welfare and behavioural tendency metrics to predict human-brown bear conflict,” he added.

Rashid Y Naqash, Regional Wildlife Warden, J&K Wildlife Protection Department said the Wildlife Protection Department has played its part in launching the project and the first phase is already over. "We want to see the difference between bears that are socialised in the Thajwas landscape with those that are completely wild, without any human imprint.”

As per Swaminathan S, Senior Biologist, Wildlife SOS, the field team used radio collars which provide information on the movement of brown bears using a satellite tracking system. "Further, these animals can be tracked on foot using Very High Frequency (VHF) antennae in the field. The GPS and real time monitoring of these collared bears is still on and the results will be compiled after the completion of the first year,” he said.

The Himalayan brown bear is one of the largest carnivore species in India with a restricted distribution in the alpine meadows of the Himalayas. Very little is known about its ecology and behaviour in India. The population of brown bears in Kashmir is now severely affected and fragmented in several parts due to tourism, construction activities, livestock grazing, agriculture, settlements, highways, railroad, tunneling and poaching.