KARWAR: People on the fringes of forests are facing a new threat — paper wasps, whose bites are becoming fatal. Victims’ families have been demanding compensation for their deadly bite. However, the Forest Department says it has no provision to compensate for deaths caused by wasp stings.
On October 28, 2026, Ganapathi Thimmagowda, a resident of Havinagadde Village in Vanalli Gram Panchayat in Sirsi taluk was stung by wasps near Kaishettymane in Hoshalli gram panchayat. Unable to bear the pain, the octogenarian breathed his last.
In another incident at Kajuwada in Anshi Gram Panchayat, a 60-year-old farmer Kashinath Somanna Kajugar was stung by the wasp on October 22, 2026 and breathed his last on October 30.
“The doctors had said that his chances of survival were very low. A wasp attack can be just as fatal as bites from cobras and king cobras, or attacks by wild animals such as tigers, leopards and bears.
The Forest Department visited the house of injured Kashinath only as a formality. Neither did it assist with his treatment nor was any compensation provided,” Subhash Gouda, president of the Kunabi Samaj in Joida taluk, told TNIE
Sunil Kumar M, an expert on ants, offered a different perspective. “The wasp is a social insect, similar to ants and bees. It can be aggressive and, when provoked, attack in groups. The species is successfully protecting itself and multiplying rapidly. The increase in colonies is largely due to greater prey availability, particularly insects and spiders,” he said.