In the mountains of eastern India, an elusive creature meandered across the landscape, hidden under the cover of darkness. Unbeknownst to the shaggy animal, someone — or rather something — was watching.
The World Wildlife Fund in India and Sikkim Forest Department set up an “extensive” number of trail cameras to survey wildlife in the mountainous state of Sikkim, according to a Jan. 14 news release from the Forest and Environment Department of Sikkim shared on Facebook by Sikkim News 24.
One trail camera photographed a shaggy creature near a building in Mangan District on Dec. 1, the department said. Photos show the furry animal approaching a bucket-like object outside the building and looking back at the camera.
Wildlife officials identified the animal as a rare and elusive Tibetan brown bear — the first one ever seen in India.
The Tibetan brown bear, also known as the Tibetan blue bear, “is one of the rarest subspecies of bears in the world” and “rarely sighted in the wild,” forest officials said. The bear is identified by the lighter yellow-brown “scarf-like collar” around its neck.
Tibetan brown bears are believed to be the “basis of the yeti legend,” according to a 2017 study.
Wildlife officials said they will continue studying Sikkim’s wildlife to assess the population of Tibetan brown bears in the area.
Mangan District is in Sikkim, an Indian state in the Himalayan mountains that borders Nepal to the west, China to the north and Bhutan to the east. The district is about 700 miles east of New Delhi.
Rare penguin with strange coloring seen shaking its feathers in Antarctica, video shows
Winged ‘metallic blue’ creature seen mating in mountains of India. It’s a new species
Rare, majestic creature seen roaming Arizona on trail camera. See the ‘lucky’ moment