COIMBATORE : A 50-year-old man on his way to work suffered serious injuries in a bear attack near Gudalur in the Nilgiris district on Tuesday morning.
Sources said that around 7 a.m., on Monday, a few workers Deivamalai near Gudalur were on their way to a private estate. Suddenly, a bear emerged from a bush while they were crossing via Gudalurmalai in Oveli forest range and attacked one of them identified as P Madhavan (50) from 27th mile, Deivamalai. Others walking with Madhavan fled the spot fearing for their life.
The bear left Madhavan, who sustained bleeding injuries on his head, hand, leg, back and neck, panicked by the sounds made by co workers and the locals.
Had Madhavan been alone at that time, the bear could have killed him, said a police official.
Naduvattam police rescued the injured Madhavan and rushed him to Gudalur GH for treatment. He is now said to be out of danger and undergoing treatment for the injuries sustained in the bear attack. “It is a lone bear that attacked the worker. This is the first case of bear attacking a man in this region. In fact, we have not seen bear before in this part and this is the first time, we are hearing about bear movement in the locality,” said Oveli forest ranger Sadayappan.
Following the incident panic prevails among residents of the Gudalurmalai area, who have appealed to the forest department for protection.