Bear pelted with stones in Drass, tumbles into stream

Majid Jahangir
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, May 10

The authorities have launched an operation to trace a brown bear which slipped into a deep nullah after it was stoned by locals at Drass in Kargil district.

Two videos of the incident have surfaced on the social media, showing a brown bear caught in a barbed wire and later slipping into a nullah at Drass after it was able to free itself.

“I have ordered an inquiry. Also, teams from the wildlife and other departments have been constituted to trace the brown bear,” said Deputy Commissioner, Kargil, Baseer-ul-Haq Choudhary.

“We are also trying to identify the people who pelted stones at the bear due to which it slipped into a nullah. Once they are identified, an FIR will be registered against them,” the DC said.

In the first video shot on Thursday, the bear is seen entangled in a barbed wire and is trying to free itself. As it climbs a cliff after freeing itself, people are seen throwing stones at it due to which it loses its balance and falls 50 feet below into a fast-running stream. In one of the videos, people are seen shouting to scare away the animal.

It is not, however, clear if the bear survived after falling into the stream.

Brown bears are listed as critically endangered species due to loss of their habitat.

Regional wildlife warden, Ladakh, Mohammad Sajid Sultan termed it an unfortunate incident.

“It is case of an uncontrolled mob and here they have pelted stones at the animal which is evident from the video,” he said. “There is an input that the animal has come out of the water downstream, but we cannot concretely say if the animal has survived,” Sultan said.

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