Two bear cubs, trained about life in the wild by a surrogate human guardian, are now gearing up for their release back in the forests of Arunachal Pradesh, an official monitoring the project said.
Asiatic Bear
‘This method is being used for the first time in India,’ said N.V.K. Ashraf, director of Wildlife Trust of India’s (WTI) wild rescue programme. ‘It will help young animals to acclimatise to their new homes and also give them opportunities to learn foraging skills including avoiding predators. ‘In the past, the rehabilitation personnel used to release the bears in hibernation dens, a technique successfully used in sub-zero climates where bears are used to full hibernation,’ he said. However, as Indian conditions do not match those in Siberia, a change in approach was mulled. By this novel method of using surrogate human mothers, who adapted the cubs to their natural habitat, the two five-month Asiatic black old cubs are slowly learning about life in the wild.

The cubs, found abandoned near a forest, were brought to the Bear Rehabilitation and Conservation (CBRC) in Pakke earlier this year. The CBRC is a premier wildlife care centre in Arunachal Pradesh and a collaborative project of WTI, the forest department and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). Since its inception in 2002, the centre has catered to a variety of rare species. They were then inducted into the ‘Walk the Bears’ programme in mid-August held inside the deep forests of Khari Pong in West Kameng district. Their ‘mother’ Deva Musahari takes out the cubs for walks twice daily. They are sheltered in an enclosure for feeding and resting at night.

http://indiaenews.com/2006-09/22291-trained-cubs-freedom.htm