A woman was injured in a bear attack in The Nilgiris district on Tuesday.
This resulted in a demonstration by estate workers who demanded that the Forest Department take steps to tackle the increasing man-animal conflict in the region.
According to forest officials, R. Gnana Thilagam (38), a resident of Tamil Nadu Tea Plantation Corporation (Tantea) quarters at Kolapalli near Choondi forest beat in Pandalur, was washing clothes around 7 a.m. when the animal, which was hiding in a nearby bushes, attacked her. She has been hospitalised.
The tea estate workers staged a strike and demanded that Forest Department take necessary steps to prevent increasing wild animal attacks. Following this, C. Badrasamy, District Forest Officer (Nilgiris South Division), holding additional charge of North Division, said that cages would be placed to trap the animal. The Department had also recommended the woman’s case for compensation.
In another incident, two persons were injured after being attacked by an Indian Gaur at Manampalli Forest Range near Valparai in Coimbatore district.
The injured were Laila (40) and her son Babu (20), residents of Kejamudi estate near Valparai. They were waiting for a bus when the animal attacked them around 6 a.m. They were being treated at the estate hospital. People staged a road roko demanding measures to tackle the leopard attacks.
