In the year 2020 and 2021, there were bear attacks till November and December. symbolic
Ajay Kumar, Uttarkashi. At a time when bears should be hibernating, they hover around populated areas and attack humans. But this is not the first time. Four years ago, in the year 2020 and 2021, bears were attacking in a similar manner, forgetting their hibernation, when incidents of bear attacks were seen in the months of November and December and like today, the villagers in the villages located in forest areas were forced to live under the shadow of terror.
In fact, at present, bears remain the biggest cause of human-wildlife conflict. Talking about Uttarkashi district, 13 incidents of bear attacks have occurred here. Most of these have happened in the villages of Bhatwadi development block of Uttarkashi forest division, in which two women have died so far. The surprising thing is that just as bears are aggressive and attack humans at present, in the same way four years ago also bears were aggressive instead of going into hibernation.
According to the data received from Uttarkashi Forest Division, there were 6 bear attacks in the year 2020. Of these, five attacks were recorded in October and November. At the same time, in the year 2021 also, there were 6 incidents of bear attacks, out of which 2 incidents took place in November and 3 incidents took place in December. Even then, forest department officials were surprised by the bears becoming aggressive instead of hibernating during winter. Although no study could be done on such change in the temperament of bears, even then, after the attacks, the Forest Department had asked the Wildlife Institute of India to conduct a study on the change in temperament of bears.
30 attacks so far in six years, three deaths
There have been 32 incidents of bear attacks in Uttarkashi forest division since 2020. In which there have been three deaths. Talking about year wise incidents, there have been 6 incidents in the year 2020, 6 in 2021, 5 in 2022 (including 1 death), 1 in 2023, 4 in 2024 and till date 8 incidents have occurred, which also includes two deaths.
Food, cold and snow are necessary for bears to hibernate.
According to Dr. S. Satyakumar, senior scientist of the Wildlife Institute of India, for the bears to go into hibernation, it is necessary to get food in the forest, cold and snow. But due to lack of fruits and flowers in the forests and lack of cold and snowfall, bears are moving towards residential settlements, where they are getting food in dustbins etc. However, he said it is not necessary for every bear to hibernate.
For ten years, bears have been seen roaming throughout the western Himalayas even in the month of December. This did not happen 50 years ago. Due to climate change, lack of heat and cold in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal and Uttarakhand etc. and delay in snowfall, the behavior of bears has changed, they are not going on hibernation. As soon as the cold increases due to snowfall, the bears will go into hibernation. - Dr. S. Satya Kumar, Senior Scientist, Wildlife Institute of India.
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