Swift appearance of a Phantom Bear in Shimshal

KARIM KHAN SAKA

Shimshal’s vast Pamir is house of wild animals like, Snow Leopards, Brown Bears, Wolves, Jackals, Foxes and many more.  Those animals and the villagers are connected in a naturally respected cohabitation. Sometimes the snow leopards and the wolves would attack our flock of domesticated animals but they will not harm more than their appetite.  They would never attack any villagers or their summer pasture huts. It is an unbelievable natural understanding between them.

But since a week or 10 days the people of Shimshal have noticed an abrupt emergence of a Bear, which is more like a ghost and not identical to the wild animals that abode in the area.  The Bear has attacked and sabotaged so many houses so far.  It has buffed all the reserve food found in the houses like wheat, rice, and dried apricot etc.

A wave of trepidation and anxiety has engulfed the whole village. The Bear so far has dismantled houses at the outskirts of the village where luckily people were not residing.  This Bear appears to be like a well trained commando as it attacks properties only in the mid nights when the entire population is in deep slumber.  But it could also attack houses where women and children are residing.

The question is how and from where this bear came in? There are different stories about it. Some people say that the bear belongs to a national park in the south and they have been brought in the Karakorum for the sake of climate change test and will be sent back sometimes latter.

Some people from Khyber village or upper Gojal area have narrated that a group of smugglers from Punjab wanted to smuggle a pair of Bears to China. When they brought them to the area and they found that it was literally not possible to smuggle them then they released them at the Khyber village area where these bears did the same destructions as in Shimshal. People complained to the government organizations but no measure was taken.  Then one of the bears vanished in the area while the other one appeared in Shimshal.  Shimshal valley at the entrance point is very narrow and rocky and everyday vehicles are moving in both directions. A bear cannot cross a distance of 57 Kilometers. Some experts from the village have found the trace of the bear’s feet only from Ziarat onward therefore many people qualm that the bear was probably brought in a vehicle at mid night and released in the midway towards Shimshal.

There are so many speculations and no one knows the reality of this Phantom beast. Nothing has been done so far by the related organizations to stop it and the absence of government in the protection of its people is a question mark.   Our agencies may need to dig in and make a broad search against those smugglers who have put the entire area in danger at the mercy of a phantom Bear.

We request the government authorities to compensate the poor villagers and capture the phantom bear as soon as possible.