The Himalayan brown bear generally lives in the alpine meadows in the Himalayan region of India and Pakistan. Here in India, this species is found in Jammu Kashmir, Uttrakhand and Himachal Pradesh. These brown bears are endangered as their population has diminished in the past few years.
You’ll be shocked to find what Himalayan brown bears are eating these days and its plastic.
A study done by Wildlife SOS and J&K Wildlife Department revealed that there is 75 per cent waste in bears’ diet.
The junk and the litter left behind by the tourists in the Himalayas have revealed themselves to be a threat to the Himalayan brown bears.
Indian forest services officer Praveen Kaswan shared a tweet which shows the dire state of the animal, which is now eating trash left behind by the tourists. He also shared a photo of the bears in the garbage pile and also a link to a study by the Wildlife SOS and the Jammu and Kashmir wildlife department.
These bears are omnivorous, eat grass, fruit and berries and also other small animals like goats or sheep. But the option of human food waste gives them a convenient way to fill their stomachs.
The study done on Himalayan brown bears pointed out that:
- This study was done in May 2021 and was carried out for several months. The study was done with various camera traps, interviews with the locals and following the footprints of the animal to understand their behaviour.
- The study was done on 408 excreta samples of brown bears and found that 86 samples have plastic carry bags, wrappers, milk powder and even glass also.
- The Himalayan brown bear is enlisted as critically endangered and Inapt and unguided waste management is one of the main factors.
“To help conserve these unique bears in Kashmir, Wildlife SOS surveyed areas which included Thajwas (Baltal) Wildlife Sanctuary, Sonamarg, Laxpathri, Nilgrath and Sarbal villages since they are critical bear habitats and prime tourist destinations. Sonamarg in particular was chosen due to its role as a bear habitat extending up to the Zojila.”
- The habitat is destructed by anthropogenic pressure like tourism, invading their habitat and this has severely threatened the Himalayan brown bears their population has declined in the past century as there are only 500-750 bears left in India.
- The food items found in the bears’ diet are 75% waste which are biryani, plastic and chocolates. And the remaining contained the plants, crops and 1% of the other animals they hunted. These items are not their natural diet which can cause various problems, and shorten their life span.
- The camera recordings showed the bears and other animals feeding on filth.
Eating non-edible toxic plastic and food waste by humans is very dangerous for the bears or any other animal- as we can the cows doing that.
There are a number of actions that should be taken and has be recommended by the Wildlife SOS for the safety of the bears which include proper management of waste, bears or any other animal can’t have access to the dustbins by securing the garbage cans and making sure that dumps are at the safe distance from the animals’ habitat.
