ULAN BATOR, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- Mongolian Prime Minister Nyam-Osor Uchral on Friday instructed the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change and other relevant agencies to deploy teams of professional hunters to areas at high risk of bear encounters and ensure they remain on duty around the clock.
The directive came after a man in his 40s was killed and a woman in her 50s was seriously injured in a bear attack in Ulan Bator, the country's capital, overnight from Wednesday to Thursday.
In response to the threat to human life and health, Uchral called on relevant officials to take immediate action to safeguard public safety, reduce risks and ensure coordinated efforts among relevant agencies. He also instructed them to provide the public with essential information on a daily basis.
The government has also approved 1 billion Mongolian tugriks (about 277,000 U.S. dollars) in funding to expedite the import of bear tranquilizer guns, sedatives, chemical agents and other necessary equipment.
Relevant officials have also been instructed to use advanced technologies to collect and compile data on the bear population in the country.
According to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, more than 750 bear sightings have been reported in residential areas across Mongolia since the spring of this year.
Experts say encounters between bears and livestock, as well as bear sightings in residential areas, have increased in recent years. They attribute the trend to several factors, including climate change, food shortages in bears' natural habitats and the overexploitation of natural resources. ■
