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1/n
Circa 1994, I was on a post at 15000 feet somewhere in Kupwara sector on the LC.
There was a huge Himalayan Black Bear & her cub who used to visit my post (Coy HQ) every evening to feed over leftovers. They just sat on the track 10 feet away from the langar till one of us..
Circa 1994, I was on a post at 15000 feet somewhere in Kupwara sector on the LC.
There was a huge Himalayan Black Bear & her cub who used to visit my post (Coy HQ) every evening to feed over leftovers. They just sat on the track 10 feet away from the langar till one of us..
2/n
..carried over her share of the evening meal. We could actually go as close as 2 feet away from her & she would let loose a mewling strange sort of a sound from her throat. Sometimes the cub would playfully prance around our legs & allow us to pet.
It was a happy arrangement
..carried over her share of the evening meal. We could actually go as close as 2 feet away from her & she would let loose a mewling strange sort of a sound from her throat. Sometimes the cub would playfully prance around our legs & allow us to pet.
It was a happy arrangement
3/n
..& I daresay both parties used to look forward to this evening ceremony. Till...
22 Jul 1994.
That evening (there was still daylight) she came to the post but was very jittery & fretful. And she had every reason to be so.
The night prior we had been attacked by Pak SSG..
..& I daresay both parties used to look forward to this evening ceremony. Till...
22 Jul 1994.
That evening (there was still daylight) she came to the post but was very jittery & fretful. And she had every reason to be so.
The night prior we had been attacked by Pak SSG..
4/n
The attack had had been repulsed and there were dead bodies in the slope.
While the mother waited on the track, the bear cub pranced down the slope (approx 20 metres; under the watchful eyes of the mother) & started nosing & sniffing at one of the dead.
In a flash, the...
The attack had had been repulsed and there were dead bodies in the slope.
While the mother waited on the track, the bear cub pranced down the slope (approx 20 metres; under the watchful eyes of the mother) & started nosing & sniffing at one of the dead.
In a flash, the...
5/n
the mother took 2 ( and it was 2) bounds into the minefield, reached her cub and gave a resounding WHACK on the face. The sound that emanated from the bewildered cub, I have never forgotten. She picked him up in her mouth by the scruff of his neck bounded up the slope...
the mother took 2 ( and it was 2) bounds into the minefield, reached her cub and gave a resounding WHACK on the face. The sound that emanated from the bewildered cub, I have never forgotten. She picked him up in her mouth by the scruff of his neck bounded up the slope...
6/n
and leapt down the reverse slope (30 degree gradient). The nullah below was 2 kilometres below us and we watched her & her hapless howling cub (in her mouth) disappear into the treeline.
We never saw her again!
And all of us who witnessed that scene have never forgotten it
and leapt down the reverse slope (30 degree gradient). The nullah below was 2 kilometres below us and we watched her & her hapless howling cub (in her mouth) disappear into the treeline.
We never saw her again!
And all of us who witnessed that scene have never forgotten it
