It was an otherwise ordinary October day in the Rampur Forest Division when the phone rang with a demand that left little room for ambiguity.
“Shoot it.”
The call had come from Shahdhar panchayat, near the famous Bhimakali Temple in Sarahan. More than a dozen cattle had already been attacked. Three people had reportedly been injured in encounters with bears. Fear was spreading through the villages, and patience was running thin.
For the villagers, the solution appeared obvious: eliminate the animal before someone was seriously hurt. For IFS officer Gurharsh Singh, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Rampur, the answer had to be different.
The Asiatic black bear is a highly protected wild animal. The challenge, therefore, was not simply to remove a dangerous animal. It was to protect people without turning a conflict situation into a death sentence for wildlife.
What followed would become one of the most remarkable recent examples of planned bear conflict management in Himachal Pradesh, about which the officer shared exclusive details with Indian Masterminds.
Also read: Saving the Last Howls: The Fight to Protect Maharashtra’s Indian Grey Wolves
The Bear Was Not Hunting Humans
The first step was not capture. It was understanding.
The Rapid Rescue Team of the Rampur Forest Division deployed camera traps, and the images offered an important clue. The animal involved was not a lone bear wandering aggressively through the village. It was a mother accompanied by two sub-adults.
The timing mattered. It was October, the period when bears feed heavily and build up fat reserves before winter hibernation. The family had also discovered something else: an easy, dependable food source. Cattle.
Many cowsheds were protected only by flimsy wooden doors that could easily be pushed open. In Kamalahu, field investigations found that several attacks had taken place in cattle sheds constructed along the edge of dense forest.
The question was uncomfortable but necessary: who had entered whose territory?
Investigations also revealed that the reported attacks on humans were largely linked to surprise encounters or attempts by frightened cattle owners to drive bears away by throwing stones. The bears, the field team found, were not actively pursuing people in the manner that the growing panic suggested.
That distinction changed the entire strategy.
The Forest Staff Became the Night Watch
The response demanded much more than a few rescue calls.
During the day, the frontline forest staff carried out their regular duties. At night, they returned to the conflict zone and patrolled nearly 10 sq km of Shahdhar, carrying mashaals and shock sticks to keep both villagers and bears apart.
They went from door to door. They sent daily alerts through WhatsApp groups. They advised residents on how to avoid sudden encounters. And they revived an old local practice: burning red chilli in cow dung outside cattle sheds, a traditional bear deterrent that had proved effective.
Where the threat was greater, the division deployed ANIDER, Animal Intrusion Detection and Repellent Systems, marking its first use in Rampur.
Even Diwali became part of the strategy. Forest staff kept bursting crackers through the night to discourage bears from approaching inhabited areas. It was unconventional, exhausting and intensely hands-on, but it was designed around one principle: create distance rather than create casualties.
The First Planned Free-Ranging Bear Capture
Yet, as the situation continued, there came a point when intervention became unavoidable.
Under the guidance of experts from the Wildlife Institute of India, Zoological Survey of India and the Jammu and Kashmir Forest Department, the Rampur team undertook what was regarded as the first planned capture and safe release of a free-ranging Himalayan black bear in Himachal Pradesh in recent history.
The animal captured was one of the sub-adults.
The operation was anything but routine. The team remained awake through the night to monitor the captured bear and ensure its safety. At the same time, they had to contend with its separated mother, an especially dangerous situation given the protective behaviour of a mother bear separated from her young.
The challenge did not end with the capture. Residents were unwilling to have the bear released back into their immediate vicinity. The forest team therefore had to navigate the difficult space between public fear and the animal’s need to survive in the wild.
Three bear captures and releases were eventually carried out in Shahdhar.
From Fear to Self-Reliance
Perhaps the most encouraging outcome came not from technology, but from the villagers themselves. In Kamalahu, residents began conducting their own night vigils. No further incidents were reported.
That was an important shift. The forest department was no longer simply responding to conflict; communities were beginning to understand how to prevent it.
The intervention also received attention at the highest levels of the state forest department. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Amitabh Gautam visited Rampur and Sarahan to assess the rising human-bear conflict. He was briefed by Gurharsh Singh on the situation and visited the affected areas of Shahdhar, where he interacted with residents and discussed measures to reduce encounters.
Gautam also visited the Sarahan Pheasantry and reviewed ongoing works. Conservator of Forests, Shimla South, Preeti Bhandari, briefed him on activities at the Sarahan breeding centre, while DCF Sarahan Ashok Negi highlighted achievements at the Sarahan Jujurana breeding centre.
Nine Rescues, One Larger Idea
Since taking charge in August 2024, Gurharsh Singh has supervised nine bear rescue, capture and release operations.
But the numbers tell only part of the story. The larger change lies in the way conflict is being approached.
Camera traps instead of assumptions. Expert advice instead of panic. ANIDER alongside traditional deterrents. WhatsApp alerts alongside door-to-door communication. Forest teams working with the police and Indian Army to equip themselves for high-risk operations. And, wherever possible, rescue and rehabilitation instead of lethal action.
By winter, the bear family had moved towards its natural period of hibernation. The forest department had gained valuable time to encourage villagers to strengthen their cattle sheds and reduce the easy access that had triggered much of the conflict.
For now, the balance has shifted back towards coexistence. But Singh’s experience also carries a warning: that balance can be fragile.
In the mountains, the forest and the village are often separated by little more than a cattle shed, an apple orchard or a narrow trail. Conflict can begin with a hungry bear finding an unlocked cowshed and quickly turn into a demand for its removal.
The Rampur model offers another possibility.
Sometimes, protecting wildlife does not mean choosing the animal over people. It means understanding why the conflict happened in the first place, and finding a way for both to walk away alive.
Also read: Operation Clawing Back: How IFS N Ravisankar Sarma Cracked a Leopard Claw Trafficking Network in Himachal
