Jammu and Kashmir: Man-animal conflict in the Kashmir Valley has witnessed a sharp rise over the past few years, and the major species which often finds itself in conflict with humans include the brown bear and the Asiatic black bear.
Two disturbing videos that have emerged from the valley, and are doing the rounds of social media platforms, display the severity of the situation, so far as man-animal conflict is concerned.
In one of the videos, a brown bear can be seen caught in barbed wire and struggling to free itself, as on-lookers pelt stone on the helpless animal. The panicked animal finally frees itself and flees atop a mountain. The bear was reportedly caught in the wire fencing after being chased away by the locals in the area.
However, people can be heard in the background of the video urging others not to pelt stones at the bear.
In another video, reportedly of the same bear, the animal can be seen struggling to climb the mountain, as people pelt rocks on it, who eventually loses its grip and rolls down the steep cliff and into a river. The crowd can be heard cheering out loud as the bear falls off the cliff.
Approximately 25 per cent of forest divisions in the state of Jammu and Kashmir have reported bear-human conflict and this is mainly within the Kashmir Valley.
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