Come summer, it is time for wild animals, including sloth bears, to enter human habitations in search of water and food, and in turn attack the villagers in self-defence.
Recently, Malla Reddy, a farmer, sustained serious injuries when a bear attacked him when he went to water his maize fields in the early hours of the day in Ankushapur village of Jammikunta mandal. This is the first incident of the season, and many more are likely to take place with the temperature soaring by the day. Incidentally, undivided Karimnagar district tops in bear population because of hillocks. However, their numbers have been on the decline due to granite quarry operations.
Elgandal fort
There were incidents of bears entering the historic Elgandal fort on the outskirts of the town following the quarry operations, forcing tourism authorities to close the fort for tourists for more than two months.
Sometime ago, a bear had entered the heart of the town in search of food and was trapped by the forest officials. After bifurcation of Karimnagar district, a majority of the forest area has gone into the Jayashankar-Bhupalapalli, Jagtial, Peddapalli and Sircilla districts.
Though the newly-formed Karimnagar district has low forest cover in terms of area, a majority of the bears reside on the hillocks and mountains here. “These mountains are not in the reserve forest area, so we cannot construct water troughs for the benefit of wild animals, which live on revenue land,” said a Forest Department official.
