Greetings from India!
One of the 12 mega biodiversity centres of the world, India is home to four of eight species of bears - Himalayan brown bear, Asiatic black bear, Sloth bear and the Sun bear. Bears in India are threatened due to poaching for bear parts, retaliatory killings to reduce conflicts and habitat loss due to degradation and fragmentation. In addition to these concerns, the rehabilitation of communities that eke out a living on dancing bears has made bear conservation a challange in India. Much of the bear range nations of south and south-east Asia face similar problems.

The Twenty-first International Conference on Bear Research and Management will see the coming of age of bear conservation. The Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India is delighted to host this conference at New Delhi in November 2012 with our partners the Wildlife Trust of India, Wildlife Institute of India, IBA and IUCN. IBA 2012 at New Delhi would also provide the much needed national, regional and global attention towards conservation of bears in India.

Welcome to the the 21st IBA Conference at New Delhi, India.
Watch this space for updates.