Speculating that allowing hunting would deplete the blue sheep population and bears found in the lower part of the conservation area would have to compete for prey with snow leopards, KCAMC has decided to suspend the plan. However, the KCAMC has yet to make a formal decision in this regard. [break]
Earlier, stating that the KCAMC by-law allows professional and legal hunting of blue sheep but the Wildlife Conservation Department has banned such hunting, KCAMC had repeatedly asked the department to lift the ban.
“We expect that there will be competition between bears and the snow leopards for food. So, we are planning to suspend the program for now,” said Gangaram Singh Danuwar, conservation officer at KCAMC.
KCAMC officials said after bears, which are usually found at the altitude of around 1,500 meters, were spotted at the altitude of up to 5,000 meters in search for food, they decided to suspend the plan to mitigate possible clash between bears and snow leopards, both of which prey on blue sheep..
Earlier, the council had proposed that they could allow hunting of around 80-90 blue sheep anually in the conservation area.
Now, the council has started protecting blue sheep instead of allowing hunting of the animal. According to the latest census, 5,000 blue sheep were found in Chairam, Yangma, Ghunsa, and Gola areas.
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