Sloth bear strays out of Bannerghatta, spotted near E-City

A sloth bear straying out of Bannerghatta National Park has been on the prowl at Mylasandra-Vaddarahalli near Electronics City, South Bengaluru.

The bear was spotted at SRY Layout, and its movement was captured on the CCTV camera of a house. Local resident G Pramod said the bear had been loitering in the area for a month. “I spotted the bear crossing the road in front of our house on Sunday at around 10 pm and it was captured in the CCTV camera of a nearby house,” he said.

Another resident was afraid that the bear might attack people. “Luckily it hasn’t so far, and people stay indoors due to the lockdown. But it may attack passersby once the rules are relaxed,” the resident said.

Interspersed with vacant sites, agricultural land and dry-deciduous shrubs, Vaddarahalli also has two water bodies closer to the park. Residents said rampant conversion of land and development of layouts in the area had often triggered man-animal conflict, as they urged the forest department to rescue the bear and release it in the wild.