The bear has finally found a place in the country's wildlife conservation programme, which so far has shown more concern for more popular species like the tiger, elephant and snow leopard. The Indian government has drafted a five-year action plan to boost efforts to conserve bear species found in India.
The National Bear Conservation and Welfare Action Plan-2012 was released on November 26 at the inauguration of the 21st International Conference on Bear Research and Management being held in New Delhi. The conference is being held in India for the first time. “The conservation efforts so far have been focused only on some species. With this action plan, we attempt to shift our focus towards the bear as well. Either through a committed project bear or under the ongoing wildlife programmes we will make specific provisions for bear conservation,” said environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan.
