BHOPAL: A female sloth bear which reportedly attacked and killed two men and injured a villager in Singrauli district of eastern Madhya Pradesh recently has been found dead in the same jungles two days later.
With mystery shrouding the ten-year-old bear’s death, the forest department staffers are now preparing to send the bear’s blood and other body samples for forensic analysis to ascertain the actual cause of death.
“The confrontation marks on the dead female sloth bear’s body have helped us in concluding that it’s the same bear which had a confrontation with three villagers, ultimately causing the deaths of two of them on September 16 evening. Only the forensic analysis of its samples can actually help us establish the actual cause of its death. We will soon send the samples for analysis,” Divisional Forest Officer (DFO-Singrauli) Akhil Bansal told TNIE on Saturday.
Meanwhile, there are speculations in the area and unconfirmed reports about the possibility of the bear having eaten the flesh of the men it attacked, which might have ultimately triggered its death.
“The bear was found dead two days after the September 16 incident. The body was found at a close distance from the spot of the confrontation with the men. But there is nothing to suggest that the bear had eaten human flesh and might have died due to it. Only forensic analysis of the dead bear’s samples can scientifically and factually establish the cause of the bear's death,” Bansal said.
On September 16 evening, a 45-year-old guest teacher Ganesh Bais was grazing goats in the Khanua-Jamgadi forests, when the female bear attacked him. Another villager Heera Agariya (45) who tried to save Bais too was attacked by the bear, consequently leading to Bais and Agariya’s deaths.
Another man Shivkumar Patel, who was accompanying Agariya sustained severe injuries in the same attack and is currently hospitalized in Baidhan town of Singrauli district.
“While the forest department will fund the medical treatment of the injured villager, compensation of Rs 8 lakh each will be paid to the dependents of the two deceased men once we get their post mortem examination reports,” the DFO-Singrauli.
The movement of sloth bears is not new in forest-rich eastern MP’s Singrauli and Sidhi districts. Their movement has been reported in the Sarai and Mada forests of Singrauli district, which is neighboured by eastern Uttar Pradesh and northern Chhattisgarh.