[00:00:00] Speaker A: Saving wild animal is our duty.
And among those wild animal, ascetic black bear also important species.
Because aesthetic black bear, they are real farmer of the forest.
Everybody knows without forest this ecology will be imbalanced.
So that is our duty to maintain our ecology to saving wild species like the aesthetic black bears.
[00:00:35] Speaker B: Also, there is a place in the remote northwoods of Minnesota, North America. It's located near the town of orr. Population approximately 300.
Outside of this town is an area where normal rules are put to one side. It's a place where humans and wildlife meet. It's a special place, wholly unique and not without its controversies. This is the Vince Schutte Wildlife Sanctuary run by the American Bear Association, ABA for short.
The ABA is dedicated to promoting a better understanding of black bears and all wildlife through education, observation and experience.
I'm your host Philip Stubley and welcome to the Bear Den.
Hello, it's Philip. Welcome once again to the Bear Den where we talk about wildlife and the individuals and organizations making a difference for them.
Just then you are hearing today's guest, Dr. Panjit Basumatari, project head and veterinarian for the Centre for Bear Rehabilitation and Conservation, CRBC for short. So the Wildlife Trust of India runs the CRBC and this is the first specialized rehabilitation centre for Asiatic black bears in India. Asiatic Black bears are also known as Moon bears. This is the second episode where we're talking about moon bears. So do check out my chat with Sarah Van Herpt from Animals Asia Vietnam to hear more.
[00:01:52] Speaker C: But focusing on today, Pant took time
[00:01:55] Speaker B: out of his busy schedule. He's normally being called away on an animal rescue.
[00:01:59] Speaker C: So I'm very grateful we were able
[00:02:01] Speaker B: to find the time to talk. Panjit's work has been covered by National Geographic and also Apple TVs born to be Wild series has an episode focusing on his work rehabilitating and releasing a specific Moonbear cub, Saga Li. It covers Panjit and his team's work with lots of information. Great footage of Saga Li and the forest and it's a lovely watch.
In my chat with Panjit, he takes us through the rehabilitation work he is doing for orphaned bear cubs, including hand raising, site selection for release and post release monitoring. It's interesting to hear the different ways of working and the challenges and risks faced with this. We hear about Panjit's experience with not just moon bears, but with rhinos and
[00:02:39] Speaker C: clouded leopards as well.
[00:02:40] Speaker B: So we trade a couple of stories on that.
Through hard work and dedication. Panjit is a leading example for all of us and and he reminds us that it is our moral duty to look after this planet not just for ourselves, but for all species that inhabit it. So let's hand over to Panjit.
[00:02:56] Speaker C: So Panjit, thank you for coming on to speak to us. I'm very excited. So just first of all could you just introduce yourself and tell us where you're speaking to us from?
[00:03:05] Speaker A: Yeah. Myself, Dr. Panjit Bhatstramatari.
By profession I'm veterinarian. I work for Wildlife Trust of India and currently I'm here at Unasal Pradesh. It's in eastern part, easternmost part of the Indian country.
And here we have the center for bear rehabilitation and conservation and very close to Paki Taika Reserve.
This facility has been established in since 2002 and now it's 2026 she almost more than two decades. We are rehabbing the Urpan bear cups. Basically our priority is once we receive the Urpan bear cups we try to hand raise here and releasing back to the wild instead of sending to the lifetime care facility.
[00:03:55] Speaker C: Oh amazing. And so what was it that drew you to wildlife in particular like? So if you could tell us a little bit about your background and where you grew up.
[00:04:05] Speaker A: Since I pass out my veterinary profession during the internship period I try to work for the domestic animals but suddenly come up in my mind because livestock or any domestic animal has been practiced by many veterinarian in the country.
So I decide by myself why don't I do for something new things which is still people are looking for those activities like especially for the wildlife. During the veterinary course we found very limited study sciences to read about the wildlife. But that that was not enough. And I thought that if I go to the field I can learn many things.
Because nobody is perfect by studying the books.
Once you are in the field, handling by the animal, learning by the doing. That is very much important for me.
That is why I choose this wildlife veterinarian profession. And I have been continuing since 2009.
In Wildlife Trust of India there is a department, it's called Wild rescue and rehabilitation.
So since I joined with the Wildlife Trust of India I am continuing for the wildlife rescue and rehabilitation. I'm not only working for the aesthetic black bear.
I have handled more than 200 species wild animal found in northeastern India.
I was in Manas National Park.
Then I have shifted to Kajira national park where I got more than 3 to 4,000 animal handled. Especially rhino, elephant, many other big hobby bows and tiger cats, many cats and different birds.
And finally now I'm at center for Bear Rehabilitation conservation here also I do handle some small kids and some birds.
So like that, so many animal. Till now I have handled around more than 5,000 animals if I can remember.
[00:06:14] Speaker C: Wow. I'm sure you've got many stories there then. So where the, the center for the Bay rehabilitation conservation area is set up, can you kind of describe the area? What are the sort of national parks or reserves that are nearby that you mainly target for rescue or rehabilitation?
[00:06:33] Speaker A: So two decades back there were many incidences that orphan beers they landed directly to the zoo.
Then fortunately Oil Trust of India they have some survey projects in this area, particularly in northeast India.
It's boundary of the China and Bhutan and some parts of the Bangladesh.
So this area is basically more than 80% of the forest cover. But still why aesthetic black bear orphan is happening?
So by seeing those unfortunate incidences, the Wildlife Trust of India come up with one idea that why don't we do something for this species? That is why they built this center for bear rehabilitation and conservation to hand raise the orphan bear cubs and releasing back to the wild.
So initially we also doesn't know how to rehab the aesthetic leg bear.
And later on, after three, four years they have explored the other countries experts and come up with how to rehab the bears then successfully now they could release back to the wild most of the orphan bear crops. This center for bear rehabilitation and conservation location, I can say it's easternmost part of the country.
[00:08:00] Speaker C: I think. Before we get into a bit more about the, the rehabilitation process and how that works, I thought maybe I could ask you to give us a bit of an overview on Asiatic black bears.
[00:08:11] Speaker A: Yeah, aesthetic black bear basically largely they are the omnivorous and they are very energetic, they are very flexible and they are very hardy species.
We have very few mortalities while hen raising the Orpen bear cubs, but other species, many other wild species.
During the hand raising, during the carrying there is motility rate is very high. But aesthetic black bear is not because they are very good adaptive species.
Aesthetic black bear you can see very prominent white patches in the, in the breast side basically. Yeah.
Be safe. It's. It's like. It's like the moon only that's why we call it Moon beer as well.
And aesthetic black we are largely we, we call but sometime we call it moon beer.
Yeah.
[00:09:08] Speaker C: And in your area, what are the main threats to the Asiatic black bears nowadays?
[00:09:13] Speaker A: Human population is increasing, a lot of infrastructure and the sharing the landscape human and animal is now day by day decreasing.
That is why most of the animal they are coming out and along with the other species, aesthetic plague. We are also there in trouble now. Other than the deforestation, deforestation and infrastructure. There are so many biotic pressures.
Everybody knows that people take advantage also sometime for hunting and all that is also one of the big issues, particularly in this corner of the country.
So these, these things are the major issues for the orphaning of these species.
[00:10:00] Speaker C: Yeah, I was going to ask like what the most common reason was for why the cubs end up at the, the center. Is it judo sort of poaching or hunting or anything like that?
[00:10:11] Speaker A: There are some ritual hunting before, but still we don't have direct evidence that poaching, only the poaching is the only reason. Because we have the evidence for the retailatory killing also during the crop riding. That is also one of the major issues now. Because after the human population increasing in the landscape in this, particularly in this part of the state, so many, you know, crop land and people are constructing a lot of houses and so many different infrastructures, development that is going on. So ultimately their space is coming, you know, down.
Sometime they come to human settlement along with the cup and raiding the crops. So that time conflict happened with the human beings.
And fortunately or unfortunately the mother has, you know, killed by the people and cops lended to us. This is also one of the reason other than this, there are some ritual hunting. People go inside the forest and do for hunting ritually that is there.
[00:11:28] Speaker C: And so once you have the cub, what's this kind of rehabilitation process? How do you start with that?
[00:11:34] Speaker A: Once we receive the calf, we hand raise them and you know, caring for 24, 27.
Our first priority is that animal individual has to survive. The victim has to be survived with us.
Then only we can think for rehabilitation.
So we give very much important to make them healthy. Once they are in our care, once
[00:12:00] Speaker C: obviously you've established they're healthy and I guess the cub and the carer establish a bond. What's the sort of typical day, I mean if there is one for a bear and it's a kind of surrogate parent.
[00:12:12] Speaker A: So during the hand raising period we always try to minimize the human contact with the cubs.
Because we know that this cub we have to put back to the wild.
So that is why we are very specific for feeding, cleaning, you know, and anything caring.
So we don't paid much, we just go and feed them. Cleaning specifically specific time we go in their enclosures.
So those kind of measures we have to take during the hand raising period. And not only that, we try to minimize human contact because of the some zoonotic disease as well. We never allowed outsider people to come in our facility. Only the caretakers, they can go and feed the bear cubs.
Even for me I don't, I never visit frequently because until and unless if they don't have any such kind of problem.
[00:13:16] Speaker C: No, that's fair. And, and do they. So do the cubs interact with each other as well? Or are they kept separate from each other or.
[00:13:22] Speaker A: The main problem is that sometimes we do receive single cuff. That is the major challenges for us. If we receive pair of the cuffs that is fine because they can cooperate each other, they can learn each other. But if you receive the single cuff, very difficult.
The bonding will be very, you know, strong with the caretaker. So such individual rehabbing to the wild will be difficult for us.
So that is what we had experience.
[00:13:50] Speaker C: First, do the caretakers take the cubs
[00:13:54] Speaker B: out for walks into the forest during hand raising period.
[00:13:58] Speaker A: At least for one or two hours. We take them out, that is just for exercise from the beginning onwards. But that is not the real work for the bears.
We take them inside the forest after four to five months.
Okay, but before, before taking them to the forest we do site selection where we have to release back to that bears. Because as you already know that releasing some individual to different site it is not that easy. There has to be scientifically proper study and proper site selection.
Otherwise the other species, it may be tiger, it may be leopard predator and co predator.
I mean to say here, you know, basically it may be adult bear, it may be dominant for other adult male bear. So we have to be very very cautious. So before taking them to the release site there has to be proper site selection.
Then only you can take them to the wild for work.
[00:15:06] Speaker C: Yeah, very true of course.
[00:15:08] Speaker A: So the release side will be around maybe 30, 40 kilometer from the facility.
[00:15:14] Speaker C: And that's in the the Pake Tiger Reserve where you mainly release.
[00:15:19] Speaker A: Currently we are releasing in parquet I reserve but as on today in last two decades we have been releasing urban bear cups in four national parks. Manas National Parkhe Tiger Reserve, Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary and Di Hing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary. These four side is our current bear rehab site.
[00:15:40] Speaker C: Oh great. And like what's the typical range of an Asiatic Black bear then? I guess when you're selecting the site you need to make sure there's enough space for each bear.
[00:15:50] Speaker A: Our priority is releasing the individual, releasing the wild animal where from they got rescued or close to that protected area.
But fortunately or unfortunately you you may not get chance to release those area because of human settlement and other disturbance.
So that is why we are taking advantage.
The nearest protected area.
If I got the Urpan bear cups from the Ornasil state, I definitely select the site within the ordinasal state.
But it has to be within the protected area so that we can release the animal without any human disturbance.
[00:16:34] Speaker C: Do you use radio collars or like camera traps in the release as well?
[00:16:39] Speaker A: Yeah. Before releasing the bears also during the site selection we do camera traps to select the site we have to know the other species surrounding.
So accordingly we have to select the site.
Once the bear is ready to release, definitely we have to radio collar them. And after radio collar also we have to know whether that individual is surviving in the wild or not.
And our release bear we have sighted after two years also in the camera trip.
Oh amazing.
[00:17:13] Speaker C: When you've returned a bear to the wild, is there a certain amount of time that you say oh that's, that's a successful release now you know, the bears surviving and thriving hopefully, you know, is there a sort of X amount of months or years after the release that you say right, we've, we've done the job, it's a wild bear again.
[00:17:31] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Once you see your release bear with the. Yeah. Take in the camera trip photographs after two years, definitely we feel good. Yeah, I bet, like maybe supplement some individuals also.
Yeah.
[00:17:45] Speaker C: I always thought if it's past the age that it would have gained independence from its mother and say, you know, you've cited it a year after release. I think that's a success. Personally I don't know if you have a sort of similar outlook.
[00:17:59] Speaker A: Our minimum post Release monitoring is 6 months because within the 6 months Colab drop off and after colab drop off you don't have any other way to monitor it until. Unless if you don't put the ear tags. If you put the ear tag sometime you may get opportunistically in the camera traps photographs. So that is why we are continuing the ear tagging before releasing the bears.
Okay.
[00:18:29] Speaker C: So if you see them on the camera trap you'll see the ear tags as well. So you'll know.
[00:18:35] Speaker A: Yeah we are putting yellow color ear tag.
Ertic is only for direct setting or camera tripping evidences. Okay. Coloring you can find, you know, if the bear has gone say about 20 kilometer from you, 30 kilometer from you. Also you can see in the mobile easily where the, where is your release bear?
[00:18:57] Speaker C: Oh great.
[00:18:58] Speaker A: It's. We put the satellite color nowadays and we put the BHF collar but it was very Difficult because this landscape especially the Ornasul pot is boundary to China. The landscape is. The terrain is very tough.
After release it is not easy to track them.
So that is why we have come up with idea for putting the satellite color.
[00:19:26] Speaker C: That's good. Yeah. Because I guess is the terrain it's very. Is it quite mountainous or that far like densely forested or what's the kind
[00:19:34] Speaker A: of semi evergreen forest? Very dense and it's mountainous. And during summer you won't find any roads here because old roads it will go, it will wash away with the rain water.
[00:19:51] Speaker C: So how many cubs have you released
[00:19:53] Speaker A: to date we have handled approximately 100 individual bears and among them 65 individual has we have put back to the wild and particularly in Urnasal Pradesh More than 40 individual has been put back to the wild.
It is not easy to release back to the wild because once they become human friendly, once they become, you know, human imprinted it is very difficult to release back to the wild. Some individuals we can't release back to the wild because we know this individual if we release also will come back.
But that is not our mistakes.
The mistake has done by the rescuer. Sometime after rescue the animals they kept along with them for longer periods and by that time animal get you know, human imprinted.
If you try to release such individual to the wild, definitely he'll come back.
Yeah.
[00:20:57] Speaker C: And I guess it's not good for the individual and it's not good for the the wild population either. If you've got the a bear like that.
[00:21:03] Speaker A: We have the experiences. Our release bear has come back nearby the anti poaching camp and raiding the anti poaching camp and you know, finishing all the foods in the anti poaching camp damages the anti poaching camp.
Those incidence is, you know, common because wild elephant also comes and do such kind of, you know, damage. So that is almost. It's natural for wild animals. We don't consider this is dangerous for us.
But sometime what happen the forest people, they may not be happy because this is very tame.
So sometime we have to capture and bring it back to the our facility.
Few individuals still with us.
We have five individual. After releasing they come back to us.
[00:21:53] Speaker C: And so you've got them. Are they pretty much non releasable? So you'll be kind of giving them lifetime care do you think?
[00:22:00] Speaker A: Yeah. Now instead of sending to the other lifetime care facility we are developing here already one lifetime care facility.
It's very natural. Look, we are giving much natural enrichment for them.
[00:22:16] Speaker C: That's really good. And how Much is it like to put one bear back into the wild?
[00:22:24] Speaker A: Releasing one bear and three beer, four beer is almost cost is similar. So every year our course is in Indian rupee more than 1 crore I think.
[00:22:37] Speaker C: Yeah, I'd have to double check. I'd have to look that up but I will. I can drop that in later.
All right. I just wondered obviously.
Yeah, I don't know if we've not really touched on it but is there a major difference between releasing females versus males back to the wild?
[00:22:52] Speaker A: We are not getting any much difference with male and female releasing to the world because the main challenges part is we have to be very specific for the predator and co predator because since you are going to put back some individual which are not belong to this place and this there are many other species.
So we have to be very very cautious that what kind of predator is available in that place, whether that area is having enough food or not, you know whether that side is feasible for that species or not. So those kind of criteria has to be pull pill. Then only you can release back the oren bears.
Otherwise today you will have released the bears and tomorrow some individual they come and finish everything.
So that should not be happen. That is why before releasing any individual it may not be bear, it may be other species also. I would suggest better to go very proper scientific study site selection.
[00:24:02] Speaker C: And actually it would be nice to hear any about any individual bears that stood out to you personally or if you had any kind of stories about particular bear cubs. Be nice to hear
[00:24:14] Speaker A: there are a few individuals long back in 2010 I think it's more than 15 years. I was in Manas Nation park close to Bhutan. Boundary country, it's called Bhutan.
We try to rehab four individual bears and interestingly one individual still I can remember his name Mai. Mai means cat.
We put his name is Mai because that individual was rescued from Mai, Gary that is why we put his name is Mai. And the female was Gendry male I have given Mai and female have given Gendry.
So Maoji has absconded before releasing and he has gone to the forest without our our care during work period.
And he spent more than a month inside forest on his own and we released other bears. After releasing other bears that Mai has come back to us.
He was not with us for almost a month but after releasing other bears he came back to the enclosures. That was first time experience that, you know, I never had such kind of experience. That animal used to be like that and that is first incidence and the second incident, you know here Also in pke, one individual.
If it is two individual, we don't have much, you know, challenges. If it is single bear is very difficult, it will be very close to you. Bonding will be very tight with you.
You know, difficult to release back to the wild.
But there are some individuals who basically, you know, loves forest. They adapt very, you know, fast to the forest.
Try to become independent also.
So different kinds of experience you I have gained and it all depends on individual variants also.
[00:26:18] Speaker C: It's true every bear is an individual
[00:26:20] Speaker B: with its own sort of needs and wants and personality.
[00:26:23] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:26:25] Speaker C: It's the. Is it the government that bring you all these orphaned cubs? So they'll have been brought them by individuals, the cubs and then they pass to you. Is that the way it works?
[00:26:38] Speaker A: Our facility contact numbers we have provided to forest authorities and the forest authorities they got the information and once they receive any such kind of information, they pass to us and we visit the site where orphan cup is happening.
And people doesn't want to tell the exact coach how they got it.
They simply say, you that we just found alone, we don't know about the mother.
[00:27:07] Speaker C: Yeah, that's very typical.
Very similar stories I've heard in Indonesia as well. We've just, we just found it here. You know, nothing to do with me.
[00:27:17] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:27:18] Speaker C: I mean I'm sure the Asiatic Black Bear has. There are like protections and laws in place, but it's a protected species.
[00:27:26] Speaker A: Yeah, it's you know, it's pretty important species in government of India. It's you know, now it's vulnerable while still population is coming down. It's I think less than 10,000 now the population globally.
So aesthetic BlackBerry is very much important.
Well people are still not realizing that, you know, we have to save this species.
[00:27:51] Speaker C: Well, it's a keystone species of, of the area.
[00:27:54] Speaker A: Yeah people they like mostly the bears during.
When they are young age. I can see that country like in India, they like the bear Teddy Bear many people used to call it, but nobody try to understand that what is the trait for this species.
We have been running this facility last two decades.
We are still receiving orphan bear cups. That means we can guess something is wrong with their mother because everybody knows mother care is the best care. But those individual, they lost their mother and because of their mother is not around, we are taking care of. But that is not satisfaction.
That is not enough for them. If they, if they could have been gone with their own mother, they could have been learned more.
[00:28:48] Speaker B: Yeah, mother knows best.
[00:28:50] Speaker C: So. So yeah. Do you have much public outreach as well like engagement. You're trying to teach people the importance of Asiatic Black be.
[00:28:58] Speaker A: Yeah. Nowadays many people from the country they keep coming our facility and we are giving orientation sometime I do visit other place also and giving the information how to rehab the aesthetic black bears.
Not only the aesthetic black bear, any wildlife found in northeast India and that I have experienced in the first. I try to give best information, best technical information to the other persons so that people can, you know, learn they can encourage to save the wildlife.
[00:29:36] Speaker C: It'd be nice to hear a bit more about any other species that you've rescued as well then because I mean you mentioned like I say, many cats, pangolins or what other. What other species?
[00:29:47] Speaker A: Yeah. I work for the clouded leopards as well.
I have experienced four individual orphan cloud developers.
We have nearby the Indo Bhutan boundary.
So that rehab process has documented by Netgeo as well.
So those open cloud developer has been rescued from nearby the settlement area. It's Manas Tiger Reserve and we hand raise them for some time and we develop a soft release protocol and release back to the wild.
That was very challenges. Unlike bear basically bear we do work during daytime. But for the cloud developer challenges is very much comparison to the bear rehab.
You have to work till the late evening with the cloud developers because they are very active during the late evening.
So that was my most memorable days how I have devoted my time with the wild spaces still I can remember.
[00:30:59] Speaker C: So you released the four clouded leopards back to the wild?
[00:31:03] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. The four individual cloud leopard release was success and other than four individual, one of the Sabadell cloud leopard, it was badly injured by the villagers and entire stomach content has come out and I have operated successfully and after two months I could release back to the wild. So total five individual cloud developer I could release back to the wild.
[00:31:30] Speaker C: Oh amazing. We had a clouded leopard actually in when I was in Borneo. It somehow got in. So we had a sort of walled off area for orangutans where they would be released into kind of like a hectare of forest area. And it's kind of a pre release to see that they can make a nest and survive by themselves individually before releasing to the big forest. And somehow a clouded leopard had got into it, into this walled off area and it got in but it couldn't get out.
So some of the caretakers had managed to lure it into, you know a transport cage and then we.
I sort of accompanied them. It was really interesting because the cloud had leopard. It just sat in the transport cage very calm, very still. It felt like it almost knew that it was just waiting. It was like I'll get out soon. And then we actually took it by river to a different area and released it and it just came out and was just ran off, you know, straight away. There's no issue at all. But it was very, very beautiful creature. Very. You know they say when. I guess those eyes just kind of hypnotize you when you're. I'm like I suppose that's what they do to their prey.
[00:32:37] Speaker A: Y so yeah in 2010.
Yep, in 2010. I still remember in 2010 a pair of cloud developer It's a very tiny.
The villagers they rescued the cops from the tree trunk and I got the information and I went and meet the villagers there and I try to reunite actually because I know that the mother care is the best care and if I could reunite with the mother my job is done. So initial stage I took both the cups and I took the guy also who brought the cups basically from the forest.
There was very nicely one tree trunk that was the clouded open nest.
I put back both the cups and those days I don't have much experience.
I put flash camera traps nearby the cups where the mother has kept her own cups. No, basically the nest basically next day the mother came and tried to take the cups but because of flash camera traps she didn't take. She just jumped through the nest basically she didn't pick up the cups but she has gone away.
But I'm sure that she was the mother and after three, four days she didn't come back.
But cups they are getting day by day dehydrated so I thought better to take them to the facility and hand rest.
It took long time to you know, rehab them but still I can remember those type of scenario that if I could have been successfully reunited with the mother my job could have been done in the day itself the teachable moment
[00:34:34] Speaker C: I guess for for the future.
[00:34:37] Speaker A: They are very very, you know very elusive and very size species cloud leopard because I work with them very closely two batches in 2009 and 201011 so both the batches I have the good experience their behavior basically they're really very shy and elusive species.
[00:35:00] Speaker C: They are any other sort of memories or what are your sort of favorite memories or like proudest moments from your time working with. Well, all the species bears or leopard cat.
[00:35:10] Speaker A: So other than this I spend my time for rhinocaps hand raising also rescued and and you know hand raising basically I handled near about 30 individual Rhino cuff hand raising in my last 1717 year experience. So 80% of the Rhino cups I could successfully hand raised. And other than this there are many incidences with the wild elephant rescue case. Sometime we are also in danger. They are also in danger.
You know, encountering with the wild elephant. This is very common and it happens with me a narrow escape Sometime I lost in the forest.
So there are many incidents during the clouded leopard rehabilitation. I lost once me and one of my caretaker, we went there to camera trip the other species nearby the cloud developer release site placing one by one camera trip by the time already dark.
And while coming back we lost the track and there are so many other animals like Indian gore elephant.
Everyone is coming closely.
Then we climbed on tree and we spent two and a half hours on the tree. Later on our colleagues discuss where we had lost and we had given our, you know, voice. We are here, please come forward.
[00:36:42] Speaker C: Oh good. Like that happy end. I mean, yeah, it's easy. I mean it's happened to me as well. I mean even it's probably a bit embarrassing. It happened to be in daytime where you get turned around and you just kind of forget where, which way you came from. And I had to rely on, you know, some people shouting to me to kind of work out which way I had to go.
[00:37:00] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
As a veterinarian I can say even if you are too close with the well and well frequent time the stress level with that individual will be very much and there is no any specific treatment of the stress.
Eventually that individual may die also.
So we have to be very, very careful while handling any wild species.
It may be small frog, it may be small snake, it may be elephants.
So we have to be very, very careful.
[00:37:39] Speaker C: Yeah.
And I suppose as well I'm interested to hear a little bit more about the forest enclosure building for the non releasable bears. How developed is that?
[00:37:54] Speaker A: We have four close enclosures, bigger size. Yeah, it's around 20 by 40ft and height will be around 30 to 40ft. That is close enclosure. And adjacent to the close enclosure we have open air enclosure. And inside that open air enclosure other species also come. Maybe red jungle foul, maybe snake.
It may be other reptiles to other wild animal. They come and stay along with the bears and there will be tall tree. Generally our bears in captive facility, they don't sleep mostly in the ground, they sleep in the top.
Because that facility open air enclosure is having tall tree.
Mostly they sleep in the top.
That is why I'm telling we are trying to.
We have given as much as natural enrichment to them.
Even if they are in our custody.
[00:38:52] Speaker B: Yeah, no, I agree.
[00:38:53] Speaker C: That's what I try to do. If you're having to look after them for their entire life, you want to provide as natural and as wild a life as possible.
[00:39:01] Speaker A: Because I can see they enjoy.
Sometimes they don't come back. They don't come down for three, four days. They just go tough and sleep there. Even you, if you go with food, they won't come. They sleep just like three, four days.
[00:39:15] Speaker B: Well, I guess they'll come when they're
[00:39:17] Speaker C: ready, when they're hungry.
From hearing you talk about the work you've done and the species, including the bears that you've rescued, what would you like people to remember?
[00:39:27] Speaker A: My clear message is that since we are the human being, I would consider myself also animal. But we people are most intelligent animal. And this is our moral duty to look after the other species in this ecosystem. And my message to everyone is that please try to give some efforts, some conservation activities for those species also, because the space is not only for human being, we have to give space for them also.
So better to look for the coexistence always and in coming days, future generation. Also.
They have to know that the wild animal is also very much important in our ecosystem.
And it should continue.
Then only this planet will be peaceful.
[00:40:19] Speaker C: No?
[00:40:19] Speaker B: I'm here.
[00:40:20] Speaker A: Here.
Any species who is in trouble, most trouble, critically endangered, to make them survive, to bring their population stable, definitely I'll continue this job.
[00:40:34] Speaker C: I'm glad you're there to help with that. Was there anything else you wanted to mention, maybe that I haven't asked about?
[00:40:40] Speaker A: So my only message to everyone is that people who work for any rehabilitation work, especially for the wild animal, we should not take easy your life.
We should not take easy your safety is very much important.
First you have to survive.
Then only you can save this species life.
When you go to the forest, if you see wild animal, don't be very friendly.
You should respect them.
Respect in the sense, not. Good morning and good evening.
Please give space to them.
If they are crossing towards you, wait at least for few minutes, let them go.
Then only you can proceed.
That's the respect to the wild animal. If you respect the wild animal, definitely you will get good result.
[00:41:35] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:41:35] Speaker B: Keep nature wild, yeah?
[00:41:37] Speaker C: Yes, agree.
[00:41:39] Speaker B: Thank you once again to Panjit. Been a lovely conversation and there will be links in the show notes to further information on his work. So we've traveled quite a bit across Asia over the last few episodes. But now we will be returning to the Americas, but going south for the next episode. As I'm joined by Andean bear expert Santiago Molina. So I'm looking forward to that. And you know, we're gradually ticking off those bear species one by one. So until then, thanks for listening and see you next time.
The Bear Den the American Bear Association Podcast was written and presented by me, Philip Stubley. The music was composed by React Music.
Thank you to everyone who has helped make this podcast possible, including Karen Hauserman, Bill Lee, Clarie Lee, Stephanie Horner, Donna Brzinka, Ross Coyer and Angie Page.
You can find out more about the American bear
[email protected] you can find Vintrudi Wildlife Sanctuary on Facebook and Instagram. You can ask questions and submit comments about the podcast to Peace Homericmericanbear.org the ABA is a special circumstance.
We do not condone feeding wild animals. If you enjoy this podcast, help support the ABA either by donating, becoming an ABA member, symbolically adopting a bear, or come visit the sanctuary during the season and say hello.
And if you do enjoy this, please do us a favour. It'll barely take you a minute on whatever platform you're listening to this on. Please either follow us or click the bell for updates and notifications.
Please share, share with family and friends and rate the podcast as it all helps us grow and is greatly appreciated.
