The animal has not been seen since Feb 22 at the enclosure it shared with two other bears. Officials claim it has tunnelled its way out of the enclosure and is somewhere underground.
NEW DELHI: Officials believe a female black Himalayan bear at the Delhi Zoo, which has not been spotted for almost two months, has gone into a tunnel it made to deliver its cubs.
The animal has not been seen since Feb 22 at the enclosure it shared with two other bears. Officials now claim it has tunnelled its way out of the enclosure and is somewhere underground.
The bear was apparently seen mating before it disappeared and is perceived to have gone into the tunnel for the duration of its pregnancy.
"This is a normal situation which occurs in case of this species," said DN Singh, director of the zoo.
"This is a female bear according to our records and we have seen them mating. Their normal gestation period is seven months. Around that period it entered the tunnel," said Singh.
But media reports have hinted at carelessness on the part of the zoo or even the possibility of the animal having been poached.
Certain reports claimed that Himalayan black bears were not diggers like the sloth bears.
According to reports from other zoological parks in the country, female Himalayan bears stay in isolation for 30 days and avoid food during pregnancy. They stay in isolation till the time the newborn cub opens its eyes, which could take another 25-30 days after delivery.
"Till that period it stays in isolation and avoids food," said Singh. A newborn bear cub is usually hairless and sticks to the mother's belly till it opens its eyes.
“After 45 days we tried to find out the reason and we observed the cave. If the female bear had died, either a foul smell or flies would have been there, but we have not experienced that,” said Singh, hoping the bear would emerge with its cub.
Such incidents have occurred twice before in Delhi Zoo. In the first instance, the bear came out with two cubs after 90 days. However, in the second case, the bear came out after 45 days without any cubs.
Some bears eat their own cubs if they feel the newborn are not going to survive. “If we dig it up now the cub may die. There is no other chance of escape. We have consulted a book by John Prater on animals, which says that the Himalayan bear goes into a cave and stays isolated," Singh maintained.
"Every day we are monitoring the situation. We are trying to use other methods also which we cannot disclose right now."
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