ISLAMABAD

A rare and endangered black bear rescued by a team of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) is on its way to Balkasar Bear Sanctuary in District Chakwal, where 20 other such endangered bears are beinf cared for.

The six-month old animal was brought to Islamabad last week from Swat forests, where a small number of Asiatic bears are to be found.

The wildlife department captured the poacher on a tip-off during a raid on his house in a residential sector of Islamabad, E-11. According to the owner, he had bought the baby bear for Rs500,000 (AED 13,110).

Bear baiting – pitting bears against dogs in fights – is banned according to the Section 5 and Section 9 of the Islamabad Wildlife Ordinance, yet bears are captured and then sold for this purpose as the “sport” is popular in remote villages and tribal areas of the country.

A senior official of the Wildlife Management Board Faheem Chingwani told Gulf News Wednesday that the young animal was caught when it was only two weeks old. An Asiatic bear cannot be caught or captured unless the hunter kills its mother, he said. There is no other way to do it.

The otherwise healthy male cub’s teeth have been pulled out, its nails clipped and its nose pierced with a steel ring. These acts are all prohibited and punishable under the law.

He said since Islamabad’s Chief Commissioner has not appointed a magistrate so far to deal with such violations of animal laws, the bear is at present being kept in an Islamabad zoo. As soon as the paperwork is complete, and the magistrate gives permission, it will be moved to the sanctuary.

A case will be registered against the poacher, but he was presently allowed to go free.

Chingwani said not only Swat but also parts of Kashmir, Naran, Kaghan and Islamabad National Park are frequented by these rare bears.

Captivity of not only black bears but partridges, green parrots, monkeys and wild animals of any kind or species is banned. However, in Islamabad and its suburbs such violations are often reported.

One reason for this is the big presence of such animals and birds in Margalla Hills.

On Tuesday, Punjab Wildlife Department also confiscated seven monkeys and 11 chukor partridges from Rawalpindi that were captured by poachers.

The monkeys were released into their natural habitat in the hills of Murree while the chukors were set free in the Margalla Hills National Park.