Sloth bear mauls man on Goa-K’taka border

Keri: A farmer from Maan, on the Goa-Karnataka border, has been grievously injured in a sloth bear attack. Sakharam Mahadev Gaonkar, 63, said a bear mauled him when he was heading to the fields accompanied by his wife.

“As we were walking, I saw two sloth bears coming in my direction,” Gaonkar said. “I tried to get away, but one of the bears caught hold of my leg, inflicting severe injuries on it.”

Gaonkar said he somehow freed himself and took refuge on a tree. After some time, he got down and lay on the ground. Some locals and his wife then took him to a hospital in Belgaum, where he is undergoing treatment. The attack occurred on Sunday.

In April 2016, another Maan resident, Roopvati Krishna Varandekar, was killed by a sloth bear. She was attacked when she was gathering firewood. Conflicts between humans and sloth bears have been rising in and around the area.

At Surla in Sattari, 3km from Maan, two people have been attacked by sloth bears over the past five years. In recent times, sightings of aggressive sloth bears have increased in the area.

Vithal Shelke, a wildlifer working in the Mhadei region, told TOI, “The natural habitat of sloth bears has been degraded by the escalating deforestation. Unless mitigation measures are enforced urgently, such encounters with sloth bears will take a huge toll.”



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