Last week, a wild bear and its cub were spotted roaming in Srinagar localities, prompting police to ask residents to stay indoors. Wildlife officials later captured the animals in 21 hours. Rashid Naqash, regional wildlife warden, Kashmir, on how the department swings into action when they spot a wild animal in a residential area 1. Do bears and wild animals come down frequently to urban, residential areas? It is quite common in our urban and suburban cities, towns and villages to spot bears. We often get reports of wild animals roaming around in residential areas. 2. How do you get to know about such a situation? The department is usually alerted through phone calls or a social media SOS. Sometimes, the police or the district administration gets the information and forwards it to the nearest wildlife control room. 3. Do you issue any guidelines to people in such areas? As we get the information, our staff, equipped with physical and chemical restraint equipment, reaches the spot. Our first priority is to keep people away, which can be pretty challenging. There have been instances when the crowd overpowered our staff and the situation turned ugly. If the animal is taking shelter in a human settlement and we know the exact location, we restrain the animal chemically under the guidance of a trained veterinarian. If an animal is not observable, we map its track signs and other evidence. 4. Do you issue any guidelines to people in such areas? We regularly issue advisories through media on the measures that need to be taken and publicise the list and contact number of the control rooms. Newsletter | Click to get the day's best explainers in your inbox 5. What is done to the animal after it is captured? Once the animal is sedated and captured using chemical and physical restraints, it is taken to the nearest rescue centre to execute a rehabilitation plan. At an appropriate time later, the animal is released back to its natural setting.
