Sloth bear breaks into 10 houses in Coonoor town

UDHAGAMANDALAM: A lone sloth bear has broken into at least 10 houses in and around Coonoor town in the Nilgiris in the last three months. In the latest case on Wednesday night, the bear broke into a house in the Club Road area in the town, damaged furniture, ate food and attacked a woman. Forest officials say the smell of honey kept in the house attracted the bear to the premises.

In a WhatsApp message, house owner Ray Kurian said the bear had broken open three doors, entered her bedroom and attacked her. The message mentioned that although the forest department had set traps, they had not been effective. The only solution was to tranquilize and relocate the animal, she said.

Coonoor forest range officer Ravindran said the house owner had kept two honey collecting boxes on the premises. The collected honey was stored in containers and kept inside the house. “The sloth bear, attracted by the smell of honey, attacked the house to consume the same. Bears are known for their liking for honey,” said the forest official.

He said, “The lone bear has been wandering in the Coonoor town for the past three months. During the period, it damaged the doors of at least 10 houses to enter the premises.”

The forest department set two cages to trap the animal a month ago. But the lone bear wandering in a radius of 5 km has been giving a tough time to the forest department officials by evading the traps.

Nilgiris division district forest officer S Gowtham told TOI, “We have received orders to capture the sloth bear by tranquilizing it in case of a serious situation.”

Teams of forest department personnel were monitoring the various locations where the bear had strayed, he said.