‘Heart-breaking': Bear in India refuses to abandon dying cub struck by speeding car

Straits Times

2 days ago

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A bear could be seen dragging her cub, struck by a speeding car, by the side of the road and tending to it for about an hour.
A mother's love knows no bounds, and it is no different for bear mums.
In video footage posted on social media site Instagram and widely circulated by thousands of heart-broken animal lovers, an Asiatic black bear is seen dragging her cub to the side of the road in India's Madhya Pradesh state.
The cub was struck by a speeding car, as its mother – with her cubs in tow – was crossing the road.
For about an hour, the bear can be seen trying to will her cub to live, even as the cub is in its death throes.
Another cub is clinging onto her back as she paces the road. Mother bear first sits beside her dying cub, then stands over her – growling, groaning and even appearing to cry and beg for help.
Reports said there was a third cub with her, but it was out of view of the camera.
Forest rangers eventually arrived, and guided the bear and her surviving cubs back to the forest. They tried to revive the injured cub, but its injuries proved fatal.
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The incident happened on Aug 6, and a video of it – viewed over 330,000 times – was posted by Indian Wild Animals on its Instagram page on Aug 9.
The Times of India reported that the driver responsible for knocking down the cub had yet to be identified.
Viewers overwhelmingly described the scene as 'heart-breaking'.
'Heartbreaking. Humans are beyond saving,' said one comment.
Another said: 'Humans are the only curse that exists on this planet.'
'We've really failed them. We're supposed to protect them,' another comment said.
Several people criticised the Indian government for failing to take into account wildlife habitation when building roads and railways.
In a similar incident in May, an elephant was seen in a video trying to push a lorry that had hit her five-year-old calf on the road in the Malaysian state of Perak.
The calf was said to have darted suddenly onto the road, and was hit by and pinned beneath the lorry. It later died.
Its mother refused to leave, and at one point had become agitated and violent and rammed the lorry with her head.
She had to be tranquilised and moved to a safer place.