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In Pictures: Animal attacks take their toll in Kashmir

Changes to land usage, new neighbourhoods and deforestation are driving bears and other animals into populated areas.

Saleema Bano, 58, said a bear attacked her when she was working in a field with her daughter, resulting in the loss of her left eye [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]
Saleema Bano, 58, said a bear attacked her when she was working in a field with her daughter, resulting in the loss of her left eye [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]
2 Dec 2020
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Amid the long-raging strife in Indian-administered Kashmir, another conflict is silently taking its toll on the Muslim-majority region’s residents: the conflict between man and wild animals.

According to official data, at least 67 people have been killed and 940 others injured in the past five years in attacks by wild animals in the famed Kashmir Valley, a vast array of alpine forests, connected wetlands and waterways known as much for its idyllic vistas as for its decades-long armed conflict between Indian troops and rebels.

The Himalayan black bear is at the heart of this trouble. Experts say more than 80 percent of the deaths and maulings are due to attacks by black bears.

In August, a black bear pounced on Manzoor Ahmad Dar at his vegetable farm. He is still recovering from a serious head injury.

Last year, Showkat Ahmed Khatana, a 50-year-old nomad, was killed while trying to save his younger brother from a black bear attack in the Harwan area in the outskirts of the region’s main city, Srinagar. His brother was injured in the attack.

Nestled between mountain peaks and plateaus, Kashmir has witnessed a rapid change in how people are using the land. Vast paddy fields have been converted into mostly apple orchards. New neighbourhoods have popped up around wetlands and forest areas. Deforestation and climate change have added to the challenges.

In turn, experts say, animals are approaching human settlements in search of food and shelter, leading to a sharp increase in attacks.

“Animals too have adopted to this change,” said Rashid Naqash, Kashmir’s chief wildlife warden. “And interestingly, they find their food and shelter easily available now in orchards and forest foothills where humans have settled.”

Naqash said that previously, black bears would usually hibernate during the winter. “But now they’re active even in deep, harsh winters and prowl throughout the year,” he said.

The wildlife population has also increased as animal poaching has almost stopped due to the tense security situation and the presence of Indian troops in forest areas. Bears have easy access to food from the kitchen waste of the armed forces’ camps. More than half a million Indian troops are stationed in the area to quell an armed rebellion, which erupted in 1989.

Animals also have found their habitat broken up in the mountainous region, which is crisscrossed by thousands of miles of barbed wire and patrolled by tens of thousands of Indian troops.

A black bear in its enclosure at the Dachigam National Park on the outskirts of Srinagar. [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]
A black bear in its enclosure at the Dachigam National Park on the outskirts of Srinagar. [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]
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A leopard looks from a tree inside an enclosure at the Dachigam National Park. [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]
A leopard looks from a tree inside an enclosure at the Dachigam National Park. [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]
Muskan, 14, shows an axe that her family carries when they go outdoors at night to protect themselves from wild animals, at Dardkhor village, outskirts of Srinagar. [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]
Muskan, 14, shows an axe that her family carries when they go outdoors at night to protect themselves from wild animals, at Dardkhor village, outskirts of Srinagar. [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]
Mohammad Siduiq Kumar was injured in a bear attack at Kangan, northeast of Srinagar, when he was returning home with fodder for his cattle. [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]
Mohammad Siduiq Kumar was injured in a bear attack at Kangan, northeast of Srinagar, when he was returning home with fodder for his cattle. [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]
Mohammad Yaqoob, who survived a wild bear attack, moves towards his home at Dardkhor village. "I was with cattle near my house, suddenly a bear came from the forest side and jumped on me. I was having a dog along with me that time which saved me. Unfortunately my right leg was damaged leaving me handicapped for life," Yaqoob said. [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]
Mohammad Yaqoob, who survived a wild bear attack, moves towards his home at Dardkhor village. "I was with cattle near my house, suddenly a bear came from the forest side and jumped on me. I was having a dog along with me that time which saved me. Unfortunately my right leg was damaged leaving me handicapped for life," Yaqoob said. [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]
Manzoor Ahmad Dar, 36, was seriously injured when a black bear attacked him in his kitchen garden outside his home. [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]
Manzoor Ahmad Dar, 36, was seriously injured when a black bear attacked him in his kitchen garden outside his home. [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]
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Zamrooda with her son Sahil Majeed, who she saved from a leopard attack in 2009 in Srinagar. "I had finished almost all work at my home. I was supposed to go in fields for work. I saw something strange, an animal jumped on me and I was not able to move. I was bleeding and he tore my clothes when suddenly it comes to my mind that my son was outside. I ran away towards my son and I hit leopard's mouth with a stick and pulled my son out from his mouth ... My son was four years old that time." [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]
Zamrooda with her son Sahil Majeed, who she saved from a leopard attack in 2009 in Srinagar. "I had finished almost all work at my home. I was supposed to go in fields for work. I saw something strange, an animal jumped on me and I was not able to move. I was bleeding and he tore my clothes when suddenly it comes to my mind that my son was outside. I ran away towards my son and I hit leopard's mouth with a stick and pulled my son out from his mouth ... My son was four years old that time." [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]
According to official data, at least 67 people have been killed and 940 others injured in the past five years in attacks by wild animals in the famed Kashmir Valley. [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]
According to official data, at least 67 people have been killed and 940 others injured in the past five years in attacks by wild animals in the famed Kashmir Valley. [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]
Lal Din, an elderly Kashmiri villager, looks out from a window of his home at Dardkhor village, an area that experiences frequent attacks by wild animals, on the outskirts of Srinagar. [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]
Lal Din, an elderly Kashmiri villager, looks out from a window of his home at Dardkhor village, an area that experiences frequent attacks by wild animals, on the outskirts of Srinagar. [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]
Experts say more than 80 percent of the deaths and maulings are due to attacks by black bears. [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]
Experts say more than 80 percent of the deaths and maulings are due to attacks by black bears. [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]

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