TIRUCHY: Puliyancholai, located at the foothills of the Kolli hills in Tiruchy district, was closed for visitors on Sunday after a forest department team spotted a sloth bear at the tourist spot the previous evening.
The site will be reopened only after it is ascertained that the wild animal has retreated well into its forest habitat, officials said. According to forest department sources, the bear was first sighted by the forest department around 5 pm on Saturday when it was wandering along the border of the Namakkal reserve forest, which marks the boundary of the Tiruchy forest range.
On information, Namakkal District Forest Officer (DFO) Madhavi Yadav instructed staff to make Puliyancholai off-limits for the public for a day, particularly due to the tourist spot usually attracting hundreds of tourists on Sundays.
While the Kolli hills falls under the administrative control of Namakkal district, the Puliyancholai waterfalls is under the Tiruchy forest department. Officials from the Namakkal forest department said personnel were patrolling the area to monitor the animal’s movements as well as to ensure public safety.