Rajasthan: Lost bear cub who wandered into school reunited with mother in heartwarming effort

Kota (Raj): A one-month-old bear cub who had strayed into a school after being separated from its mother in a forest area here and was rescued by students has been reunited with her after a week-long tireless efforts by forest personnel to trace the sow while caring for the cub.

The bear cub was last Monday handed over by the staff of the senior government school in Shambhupura, where the students had found the animal wandering, Deputy Conservator of Forest, Kota, Anurag Bhatnagar, said on Monday narrating the heartwarming episode.

Since it was risky to release the cub in the wild, it was decided to shelter it in Abheda Biological Park and steps were taken to look for its mother.

"The baby bear was found to be in good health by the veterinary doctor. It was kept at the biological park, where forest personnel monitored its condition and fed it regularly," Bhatnagar said.

Meanwhile, a separate team, headed by forester Budharam Jat, was deployed to search for the mother bear at possible locations around Shambhupura every night from Monday to Saturday. Sound recordings were played in the forest to attract the mother bear to its cub.

However, all attempts to trace the mother turned out to be futile and, on the suggestions of experts, it was decided that 150 camera traps would be installed on the likely route taken by bears in the area.

Camera traps are equipped with motion and heat sensors and are used to capture images or videos of wildlife activities.

However, a breakthrough came on Sunday evening when Budharam Jat was informed that a bear and her cub had been living in a den near a temple in Shyopuria village, about 10 kilometres from Shabhupura where the cub was rescued.

"Jat, who was at a saloon when he received the information at around 5.45 pm, rushed to the site immediately with his half-finished haircut," the DCF said.

A temple priest in Shyopuria village informed him of a mother bear living with its one cub in a den near the temple, forester Budharam Jat said adding as soon as he heard about it, he along with the forest team reached the noted location at around 8 pm with the cub.

Since bears have stronger hearing and smelling senses than sight, the forest team placed an open box about 50 feet away from the den near the temple and waited.

The baby bear sensed familiar smells and sounds for a brief while and then jumped out of the box to run towards the den near the temple. The mother bear was also sighted approaching her cub, the DCF said adding as the two came close, she examined the baby bear for a few seconds before picking it up and retiring to her den.

'"It was a great moment of joy and satisfaction for all of us the forest team, the daughter was successfully united with the mother," DCF Bhatnagar said after the successful effort.

During captivity, the cub was very playful though a bit agitated, just like children. "It would roam around in the enclosure. At times, when it was consuming milk, it would turn a little aggressive, like warning us not to come close," he said.