Sloth bear scare keeps Kotagiri villagers indoors

Just a week after complaints of sloth bears straying into residential neighbourhood in Kattabettu surfaced, villagers of Nedugula have now raised concerns over the bear menace. 

Tea plantation labourers at Nedugula said that more than two sloth bears accompanied by their cubs frequently strayed into the estates.  

“The frightened labourers have been abstaining from plucking tea leaves. The forest department should take efforts to help us,” said a villager. The villagers claimed that the bear menace has forced them to stay indoors after dark. The forest department staff have chalked out several strategies to trap the animals.

“The sloth bears were driven back into the forests by firing crackers a week ago. However, they have returned. So, we have set up a cage to trap the animals,” said a forest department official. The villagers say that as there are more than two bears, placing of a single cage to trap the animals is not enough. 

“We need more cages and the neighbourhood should be monitored round the clock to curb straying of the sloth bears into the tea plantations,” they explained.    

A year ago in March, 2015, a 50-year-old woman died of bear attack in Kotagiri. The bear was gunned down by the forest department.