SHOPIAN: A wild bear is giving tough times to the staffers of control room wing of wildlife division Shopian, which has created panic among residents.
The bear was first spotted 10 days ago at Pinjora village of Shopian.
According to locals and officials of wildlife, it is a giant bear who has created panic in the area.
Mudasir Ahmad, in-charge control room wildlife wing Shopian told Kashmir Reader that they even fired a dart (Xylazine ketamine) on the animal- which was successful.
“We even fired a 10 milliliters dart on bear but despite that it ran away from the area and hid in orchards,” he said.
Mudasir added that they put themselves in a cage for night to fire dart from close range which according to him succeeded, but animal escaped from the area.
Locals from the village said that bear ate a dead cow in the village and even after the locals created noise, the bear didn’t leave spot. They said that authorities should take concrete steps to catch this animal to end the prevailing scare in the area.
A villager said that they are not able to venture outside in early and late hours because of the apprehension of bear. “Wildlife employees tried their best but I think they aren’t well equipped to handle such situations,” he said.
Mudasir Ahmad, in-charge said that they hope the animal will be tranquillised by Tuesday night. “We conducted many searches in area but the bear hide. We even shot 10 milliliters dart on it as usually we shot five milliliters. Now we will use more quantity of dart,” he said.
Earlier this month, the control room wing Shopian catch a big cat, Leopard from Trenz Village. However, a few minor injuries were caused to locals by the animal.
Wildlife officials believe that due to heavy snowfall this year, many animals has arrived in human habitations in search of food.

Raashid Hassan