Wildlife Dept Arrests Female Black Bear Killers In Manshera

News Desk

Peshawar: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Wildlife Department has successfully apprehended the killers of a female black bear in the Bugermung area of Siren Valley in Manshera district but could not recover the mother’s two cubs.

We detained six people after performing numerous raids and house searches in Bugermung village, including two killers who shot the bear directly and four facilitators, said Divisional Forest Division (DFO Wildlife) Manshera Syed Sarmad Hussain.

Sarmad acknowledged that it is impossible to rescue cubs from poachers’ possession. He added that when the female black bear was shot with a pistol, one cub had already escaped into the forest, and the other had been captured by poachers.

He stated that after several days of house searches and raids in different areas of the village, the investigating team came to the conclusion that the cub in possession was also released by poachers in the forest to avoid arrest.

Hussain further said that village notables have also presented a signed undertaking that they are witnesses to the release of the arrested cub in the forest by the poachers. The staff of the Wildlife Department is still vigilant and is in contact with locals to find any clues about sightings, sales, or shifting of cubs from village to down country, he added.

He was of the belief that the cubs could survive in the forest because, according to a picture of one of the cubs, they were looking grown up from the suckling stage and could manage to survive without the help and support of the mother.

The Wildlife Department has collected a fine of Rs. 280,000 from the killers and their facilitators; otherwise, they would have to face imprisonment for at least three to six months, Sarmad added.

It is important to note that the increase in poaching cases is a result of wild species’ alluring market prices.

According to Mission Awareness Foundation (MAF) Founder Fahad Malik, the minimum price of a black bear cub in the local market is around Rs. 250,000 to 300,000which attracts poor people living in mountainous regions to opt for earning a very handsome income. These arrested bear cubs are used by owners to earn money through performing dances in public or the cruel practise of dog fights.