Survey on Asiatic black bears in Arunachal's Pakke Tiger Reserve begins

This is the first such exercise aimed at assessing the status of Asiatic black bears released in the reserve forest after rehabilitation at the CRBC, officials said.

Supported by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), the Centre for Bear Rehabilitation and Conservation (CBRC) was established jointly by the Arunachal Pradesh Forest Department, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) in 2002 with an aim at rehabilitating displaced cubs back into the wild.

The exercise, which is being done in collaboration with the Wildlife Trust of India, has involved three preliminary sign surveys and camera trapping.

The final one along with camera trapping started on Tuesday and would continue till March, he said.

The survey covered an elevation range from 900 metres to up to 2,000 metres above sea level.