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Trip to Lohit and Tirap Districts of Arunachal Pradesh.

Recently, on an assignment for WTI where we had to rescue 2 himalayan bears, I had an opportunity to travel with their team to Lohit and Tirap districts of Arunachal Pradesh. Didnt get much of a chance to explore as we were on a tight schedule. The bears had to be rescued and brought back to the centre in Kaziranga without any delay. Almost all pictures taken from the vehicle.





This is where we stayed after rescuing a 3-4 month old bear cub..... Forest IB in Namsai.


 The very next day we were off to Khonsa, the headquarters of Tirap District, Arunachal Pradesh, to rescue another himalayan bear.....


I sure was surprised to see Tea Gardens on the way to Khonsa....


When we arrived in Khonsa, the view was truly majestic. How I wished  I could get down from the car for better pictures.....

In Khonsa, a grown 1year old himalayan bear awaited to be rescued. We were in for a shock.....it was huge.



Hunting is still very much a tradition in many remote parts of Arunachal Pradesh. Wildlife is hunted for food, supplementary income, sport, medicine, rituals, and also to protect cattle and crops. Certain species , like Hornbills, are hunted for decorative body parts.  Arunachal Pradesh is the home to the Oriental Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris), Great Pied Hornbill (Bucerous bicornis), Wreathed Hornbill (Rhyticeros undulates), Rufous Hornbill (Aceros nepalensis) and Brown Hornbil (Ptilolaemus tickeli). But sadly the hornbill species are facing extinction due to traditional killing by the local communities. From what I can make out, there is still a lack of understanding of its extent, scale, and ecological impacts.

The 4 day trip was kind of a "butt-shaper" experience physically, as we spent most of our time in the rescue van. But we all were very happy to get the two himalayan bears safely to the rescue centre in Kaziranga. I was happy to be able to point my lens at a live wild bear. It was quite a challenge as they were never still, the light was low, and spot metering on the black bear was over exposing the background. I had to compensate the exposure by one full stop.


Comments

  1. Mriganka SaikiaJuly 10, 2011 at 8:51 AM

    as always, awesome! where are the bear cubs? would love to see a photo-story of the entire rescue operation!

    ReplyDelete
  2. sashJuly 13, 2011 at 6:09 PM

    nice !!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. jyotishJuly 13, 2011 at 11:54 PM

    thank you Mriganka and shashanka da :)

    ReplyDelete

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