KARIMNAGAR: The heavy rain that has been lashing the district for the last six days has been hampering the rescue operation for the sloth bear sighted at Satavahana University. The Forest Department officials, along with the rescue team from Warangal, have been carrying out the operation to trap the sloth bear since it was spotted on the university premises five days back.
Forest Range officer (FRO) Gantala Srinivas Reddy told TNIE that owing to the regular blasting at the granite quarries, the hillocks are a safe habitation for the sloth bears. “We have placed two cages with food smeared with honey and eight camera traps to capture the animal,” said the officer. The camera traps are yet to spot the bear but captured animals like rabbits and four-horned antelope.
In March this year, the department carried out the rescue operation for 20 days to trap the animal but was called off as it did not yield any result.