Forest Watcher Fends off Bear with Cub

Udatanuri Sailu, a forest watcher in the Turkapally base camp deep inside the reserve, was on a five-km trail walk on Sunday morning along with another forest watcher when they chanced upon a sloth bear with a cub in tow. The bear charged at Sailu who was ahead of the two watchers but he managed to beat it back with the handle of a small axe he was carrying with him.

“The bear retreated, but in the process, the axe slipped from his hand and his left thumb suffered a cut. He was soon after treated for the injury in Mannanur and he is in good shape other than the minor cut he suffered,” Veeresh, the Amrabad forest range officer said.

Sailu and his colleague went back on the trail later in the day to install camera traps but returned after noticing that the bear, and her cub, were still in the same area, Veeresh said.

Meanwhile, the six-day AITE turned into an exciting experience for many of the volunteers who reported to the forest officials direct sightings on various wild animals including the tiger, leopard, sloth bear, and deer. As on Sunday evening, officials had reports of at least 10 direct sightings of the tiger on different line transects and trails, 12 sightings of leopards, and 20 instances when the volunteers and staff recorded seeing the sloth bear. In addition, there were many reports of deer, Chital, Sambar, and Nilgai sightings, officials said.

The six-day AITE began on January 20 and was held all over Telangana in all the forest areas with the exception of Mulugu district where the AITE was put off to February on account of the Medaram Jatara.