Three injured in sloth bear attacks in Gujarat

PALANPUR: As many as three persons have been injured in attacks by sloth bears over the last five days in the Jessore Sloth Bear Sanctuary of Banaskantha district.
According to the forest department, they have increased night patrolling and cautioned local villagers against going out of their houses at the night to prevent such attacks.
The latest attack was reported from Vera village in Amirgarh taluka on Friday night. A tribal farmer was attacked by a sloth bear at Vera village located inside the sanctuary area, said S L Parmar, range forest officer (RFO) of Iqbalgarh range. The victim identified as Devabhai Garasiya (45) suffered injuries on his shoulder and hands and was rushed to the government referral hospital in Amirgadh for treatment.
Parmar said that another farmer from Vera was attacked five days ago, and had to undergo surgery at a hospital in Palanpur. Similarly, a couple of days ago, a temple priest at Savaniya village near the Jessore Sloth Bear Sanctuary was attacked after he woke up to a noise at night and encountered a bear. He was referred to a hospital in Ahmedabad and is under treatment, said a forest official.
Sloth bears tend to wander into human settlements this time of the year in search of mahua and mangoes, RFO Parmar said.
Jessore Sanctuary has about 65 sloth bears, said Parmar, adding that the forest department would be doing a count of the bears soon.
As per a 2016 estimate, there are 342 sloth bears in Gujarat, mainly in Banaskantha, Sabarkantha, Mehsana, Chhota Udepur, Panchmahal, Vadodara and Dahod districts. Jessore Sloth Bear Sanctuary is situated 45 km from Palanpur and is spread over 181 sq km.