Straying sloth bear captured, released back in wild

COIMBATORE: A sloth bear, which was triggering panic in residential areas, was finally trapped in a cage placed by Nilgiris Forest Department on Wednesday. The bear used to venture into residential localities in search of food and sometimes broke open the shops to consume edibles.

“Two weeks ago, the animal broke into a shop and devoured eggs. Again, last week, the bear entered the noon meal centre of a government primary school campus and consumed cooking oil,” said an official.

In the wake of frequent visits by the sloth bear, the villagers urged the Forest Department to capture it to prevent an incident like Tenkasi, where two men were grievously injured in a sloth bear attack. Therefore, the forest officials placed a cage in Manjoor bazaar area a few days ago.

Around 2.30 am on Wednesday, the sloth bear got trapped in the cage, when it came to consume jackfruit and oil kept inside to lure the animal. Under the supervision of Bhosale Sachin Thukkaram, District Forest Officer (DFO), Nilgiris Forest Division the bear was released into the forest area near Mukurthi National Park.