The Forest Department with the help of the police and Special Task Force (STF) personnel on Tuesday shot dead a bear at Thothamukkai near Kotagiri. The animal killed Mathiammal (45) and injured Halan (50), the woman’s husband, and Kumar, a neighbour, a day before.
The operation was led by District Forest Officer, The Nilgiris North, K. Soundarapandian.
Tension prevailed in the area following the bear attack.
The Forest staff, with cages and tranquilizer guns, and a large number of police personnel were moved to Thottamukkai from various parts of the district. On establishing the location of the animal, it was surrounded.
However, efforts to tranquillise the bear went in vain. Even after being darted, the animal kept moving menacingly towards the people who tried to capture it.
During the operation, the bear injured a forest watcher, P. Karunamurthi (58), and a forester, Stanley (58). Constable Karthikeyan (28) sustained injuries while trying to escape from the bear. Consequently, the STF and forest personnel opened fire.
Efforts to remove the carcass for a post-mortem were hampered as a large number of people blocked the road demanding that a post-mortem be conducted at the place where it died. They also wanted other bears in the area captured. Officials pacified the protesters.
Later, the bear was taken to Sigur for post-mortem. The animal was about 10 years old and weighed around 80 kg. It was anemic and suffering from ulcers.
Executive Committee member of the Nilgiri Wildlife and Environment Association K. Vijay said that the incident gave a new dimension to the escalating man-wild animal conflict in The Nilgiris. While underscoring the need for an in-depth study of the factors leading to the escalation, he said that it should take into consideration the interests of both the animal and people. Forest personnel also should be equipped with better weapons to deal with such exigencies.
The Nilgiris Collector, P. Sankar, said the injured Forest personnel had been shifted to Coimbatore.
Compensation
A cheque for Rs. 3 lakh as compensation had been handed over to the family of Mathiammal on Monday night.
An operation to trap the other bears in the area has been set in motion.
