By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
Bears have refused to sleep this season continuing their reign of terror in the hills of Uttarakhand.
Top officials of state forest department had expressed hope last month that the bears would enter into hibernation phase in the beginning of December. But in the past one fortnight, bears have launched many attacks in different parts of the hills mainly in Garhwal region.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami spoke to Union Forest Minister Bhupender Yadav and sought additional resources and help to control such incidents.
The forest department has claimed that it has heightened the surveillance in most of the vulnerable zones to check the bear attacks.
Interestingly, state Congress President Ganesh Godiyal recently brandished a toy gun to put pressure on the government saying the people will be compelled to take arms in their own hands. He had also claimed that the most of bears which are attacking human beings had come from outside the hill state.
In view of the raging attacks and political pressure, the state forest department has decided to conduct an extensive study on the behaviour of the black Himalayan bears to find a long-term solution. Experts immediately welcomed the move saying such studies are always helpful in the long-term. “We have done studies in Kashmir on bears in the past. But no such study was done in Uttarakhand. This is a good decision,” said Dr S Sathyakumar, a wildlife expert.
Five people were killed and 75 injured in different attacks by bears in the hill state this year, said top forest officials. But in the last two months, a sudden spurt of attacks by bears has shocked people.
Multiple factors are leading to such conflicts between bears and human beings which include climate change, dry winter, garbage littering, increased human interference and shrinking food availability.
These above factors have adversely affected the hibernation period of bears due to which the animal has become disturbed, experts said.
A bear which was declared a dangerous to human lives in Paithani-Thalisain area of Pauri district has not been captured so far. This is the first incident where a bear has been declared dangerous which means that it should be first captured or if not, it should be killed as a last resort.
In the last five years, bears have injured 438 people, the official data said. Bears are currently a problem in 17 of the state’s 38 forest divisions, especially in the higher altitudes of both Garhwal and Kumaon.