Naqvi told TOI it was an initiative of Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) and is being conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), a NGO working for wildlife protection. The action plan will be released at the International Bear Association (IBA) conference to be held in India in November 2012.
Throughout their range in India, sloth bears face serious threats due to forest degradation, conflicts with humans, shortage of food resources, poaching and trade of live cubs or body parts. Naqvi said this was perhaps the first attempt to prepare a sloth bear conservation plan.
It would focus on present population status, minimizing conflict, steps to monitor the animals by developing a methodology to conduct census, spreading awareness and to see how joint forest management committees (JFMCs) and eco-development committees (EDCs) could be roped in for bear conservation. "Once the plan is approved, we will get funds to conserve bears like we do for tigers. The plan is expected to be ready within a month," said Naqvi. Read the full report here.
Source: Times News Network, Nagpur.
