72-year-old Karnataka man fights wild bear, walks 2 kms after his eye gouged out

A 72-year-old man survived an attack from a sloth bear in Timbali village in Jagalpet range of Karnataka's Joida taluk on Wednesday.

Vittal Salake, a resident of Malorgi village in the same taluk, fought with the wild bear for almost 20 minutes and walked two-three km to his relatives' house completely bloodied with injuries to his head and one of his eyes gouged out.

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With the help of an ambulance he was shifted to Ramanaagar primary health centre and later shifted to a hospital in Belagavi, where he is said to be stable and recovering. Doctors have advised an operation, which is expected to be performed in a day or two.

According to Jagalpet DRFO Deepak Bangole, the incident took place at around 3:30 pm, while Vittal was walking towards Timbali village to meet his grandson. He was ambushed by the bear.

This is the first such incident of a bear attack in the forested area of Jagalpet, he said.