Overview
- State and CWRC officials released the two orphaned Asiatic black bear cubs into Dehing Patkai National Park on Friday, June 5, 2026, marking the end of their months-long rehabilitation.
- The cubs were first found alone in Dissoi Reserved Forest in Jorhat on February 26, 2025 and were handed to forest authorities after searches failed to locate their mother.
- At the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation in Kaziranga the cubs were treated for dehydration, hand-reared under veterinary supervision and prepared for release using regional bear-rehabilitation protocols.
- Officials chose Dehing Patkai after a scientific site assessment found dense cover, plentiful food and low human disturbance, and the translocation proceeded with approval from Chief Wildlife Warden Vinay Gupta and participation by vets and forest staff.
- CWRC, a joint initiative of the Assam Forest Department, the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the Wildlife Trust of India, has run rehabilitation programs since 2002 and officials say this case may boost coordinated, protocol-driven returns of orphaned wildlife to protected habitat.