India will host its first international Conference on Bear Research and Management in Delhi next week. The conference, held every 18 months, had its last two editions in Ottawa (Canada) and Georgia (USA).
The five-day conference starts Nov 26 and will be hosted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests in collaboration with three wildlife conservation NGOs ,Wildlife Institute of India and the Central Zoo Authority. A National Bear Conservation and Welfare Action Plan will be launched at the conference.
The national plan is a compilation of 26 state welfare action plans. “The national bear action plan outlines directions for conservation of bears in the country. Whether or not it becomes a standalone project depends on the ministry,” says Rahul Kaul, chief ecologist, Wildlife Trust of India, one of the NGOs involved in formulating the bear conservation plan.
Close to 170 paper presentations by national and international bear experts from 35 countries are expected to take place in the conference on themes ranging from bear-human interactions and bear rescue and habilitation. A pre-conference workshop will look at developing a “conflict mitigation toolkit” in Srinagar.
There are currently four species of bears in the country. Of these, black bears are on the endangered list of the IUCN ( International Union for Conservation of Nature). Bears are poached for body parts in north and central India. Bear bile is a constituent of traditional medicine. In the north-east, they are also poached for meat.