By Xinhua
Kunming (China) : The growing population of wild bears at a World Heritage Site in southwest China’s Yunnan province is threatening the lives and livelihood of local farmers.
“Wild bears have killed more than 20 cattle and destroyed 10 hectares of crops in our village,” said Feng Yuzhong, a farmer from Zhala village in the core area of Three Parallel Rivers, declared a World Heritage Site in 2003.
The Three Parallel Rivers has an area of 1.7 million hectares and is located in the upper reaches of the Jinsha, Nujiang and Lancang rivers. The rivers originate from the Qinghai-Tibet plateau and run north-south through steep gorges. The place is rich in flora and fauna.
The number of bears in the protected area has increased since the 1990s after the local administration banned hunting and confiscated guns from farmers in an effort to restore its ecology.
Yu Qiuhua, the head of Bingzhongluo Town that administers the Zhala Village, said this year wild bears attacked villagers, destroyed crops and killed livestock.
Bears destroyed 40 hectares of crops, mostly maize. An estimated $13,500 worth of crops was also damaged, local official Zhang Wenjun said.
Villagers said the conservation drive in the area had led to the increase of bears. The animals climb down from the mountains to raid crops in the villages.
An estimated 300 bears are said to roam in the mountainous Gongshan region and frighten the locals when come in close contact.
“If you go a little deeper into the mountains in the daytime, you may encounter a bear,” a villager said.
“At first, we used wind-bells and scarecrows to scare away the bears from croplands, but we have failed,” said Feng Yuzhong. “Now we play loud music in the fields to scare them. We keep dogs at home to keep them away.”
The villagers have also complained of the meagre compensation they get from the government for property loss.
A farmer receives 50 yuan from the government if bear kills a sheep. Whereas in the markets, a sheep is sold for about 300 yuan. For crop damage, local authorities pay just 30 percent of the total loss.
An official of the Gongshan County said he hoped the provincial government could provide more funds to the underdeveloped county, as it had limited resources to compensate the farmers adequately.
Thanks to the wildlife conservation efforts, wild animals such as boars have increased in many areas. Man-animal conflicts have also increased.