Killer bear of North Gujarat, which had claimed 3 lives, shot dead: DCF Barad

Palanpur: The shooters of Gujarat police today killed the sloth bear near Kansa village in the Balaram Ambaji Wildlife Sanctuary in Banaskantha district of North Gujarat bordering Rajasthan which had killed 3 persons including a forest department employee and injured five in last four days, Deputy Conservator of Forest I K Barad said today.

Barad said that the bear, a female one has been killed in the same area close to Kansa in Danta Taluka of Banaskantha this afternoon where the deadly attacks by the beast had taken place.

To a query he said that it was the same bear which had conducted the attacks. ‘The members of the rescue operation team first tried to tranquilize the beast but when it looked very attacking posing danger to the lives of those involved in the operation, the shooters of Gujarat police present there fired at it and killed it,’ he said adding that the whole thing is being analyzed.

Amid unconfirmed reports claiming that the attacks were carried by at least two to three bears and the killed one might be one of them, the DCF said that it has been ascertained that it was the same female bear which had attacked and killed 3 persons and injured 5. ‘It behavior was abnormal and it was for the first time that humans have been attacked by a bear in the sanctuary,’ he added.

Notably a bear, attacked and killed a villager from Khapra, Bhikhabhai Bhagora (35) who had gone to graze his goats in the nearby jungles in Kansa on March 12. On the next day ie March 13 another person Manabhai Angari (26) of the same village was killed in bear attack in which two others injured while they were looking out for missing Bhikhabhai. Yesterday forester R H Patni (56) was killed in bear attack in which three other forest department employees injured during its search operation. The incident took place around Kansa and adjoining areas under Danta Taluka in the Balaram Ambaji Wildlife Sanctuary, which is a home to over 100 such bears. The forest is spread in over 500 square km. The places of occurrence were situated inside the sanctuary in which many tribal villages are located.

A massive operation with the involvement of shooters of district police,wildlife experts, commandos and forest department teams was launched in the area to nab or eliminate the beast.

DeshGujarat