OUR CORRESPONDENT
ITANAGAR: A nine-month-old bear cub, reared by one Terde Yomcha of Lipu Yomcha village in West Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh was formally handed over to the authorities of Aalo forest division, who later handed over to the State zoo here on Friday.
Fondly called as Luba, the female cub was purchased by Yomcha from someone at the tender age of less than one month at just Rs 1000.
Yomcha, a school student, have spent his entire school stipend received during the year for rearing Luba besides other expenditures incurred from his parents.
Luba had to be handed over to State Zoo ultimately as the Wildlife Department rejected for the reason that the bear cub was reared in a homely atmosphere and had homely traits which may not allow her to survive in the jungle.
Yomcha decided to hand it over to the Forest Department as he was going out for further study at a college in Itanagar so that his emotional attachment with Luba continues and he can meet her off and on as there is none at Yomcha to take control of the animal.
He carried the bear all the way from Yomcha to Aalo in a public vehicle and kept at Aalo for nearly two weeks for handing over to the department and left for Itanagar in tears due to urgent call from the college authority missing the handing over ceremony.The weeklong stay at Aalo was a source of amusements to see the Luba dancing with typical girl's frock, bathing in water tub, playing with kids and half of the feeding works were met through onlookers from neighboring areas who came to enjoy the sight with milk and cold drinks which Luba accepted gladly.
On expressing willingness to hand it over to the Forest Department, Aalo Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Jumdo Geiyi and his team responded promptly and kept in constant touch with the Directorate of State Zoo to take it over on request by the owner and ultimately veterinary officer of the zoo Dr Sorang Tadap and Manager and Head CBRC, WTI, Pakke Tiger Reserve Dr Ranjit Basumatary, arrived at Aalo to take it to their custody. Unlike other wild bear, Luba is purely brought up as a vegetarian.
Yomcha is the son of priest Siter Yomcha and grandson of late Kasi Yomcha, one of the most miraculous priests any tribal society ever had in the past.
"Uncle I have reared and lived with Luba like my own sister. I have not spared it to anyone even on request at high price. It pains me inside to part with her and please ask zoo authorities to take due care of her and give me access to meet her off and on at Itanagar," Yomcha said befoe pating with the bear cub.
Yomcha has a unique grace and quality to rear animals and birds and his love for animals and birds is immense. He prefers to rear wild animals and birds than the domestic ones.
Earlier, he reared two birds in a unique manner to surprise the people at Yomcha, a crow named 'Yaka' and a Mynah called 'Moina' that went with him to school and tuition centres.