The bears was raised on bottled milk for two months, raised on fruits and vegetables, and gradually introduced to other foods, including wheat and corn. They are now busy climbing mulberry and walnut trees in the compound where they are kept, or sometimes in the tin-roofed shelter that houses a hatchery for rainbow trout, a daily audience for both children and adults.
The compound is just outside the village of Dawarian, about 66 miles (106 kilometers) northeast of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Rapidly flowing rivers and canals, waterfalls, glacial lakes and forests have made it popular with tourists. Kashmir has been a flashpoint since India and Pakistan gained independence from British rule in 1947 and have fought two wars in the region. Both countries control parts of Kashmir and claim full control over it.
Since then, a 12-foot-high fence has been erected in the area to mark the border. India built the fence, saying it was intended to prevent militants from crossing. But it has also made it almost impossible for wildlife to move freely to their natural habitat. “The bear cubs are just one example,” said Sardar Javed Ayub, head of the Wildlife and Fisheries Department for Pakistan. “They were born across this gap and when their mother died near the fence, they passed through some excavated part of the earth or under the fence.”
Ashraf recalled that a few years ago, department staff spotted a dead black bear in a river away from the fence. One of the legs was apparently blown up by a landmine and fell into a river, killing him. “That’s what happens to a lot of wild animals, but we rarely know about it,” said Ashraf.
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