JOIN USTrapped inside a 40-feet-deep well a 10-year-old sloth bear was rescued at a village near Thovinakere in Koratagere taluk of Tumakuru district. The rescue operation spanning more than two-hour was carried out by the volunteers and veterinarians of Wildlife SOS and Karnataka Forest Department.
Alerted by the local villagers, the forest department officials had on Wednesday requested Wildlife SOS to assist them in rescuing the mammal. A team of experts from Bannerghatta was sent to carry out the rescue operation. Volunteers revealed to DH that the well was located about 700 meters from the boundary of the nearby forests.
A four-member team led by Dr Nithin Gowda of Wildlife SOS assisted by KFD personnel tranquilised the bear that was trapped in the dried up well. Later a large safety net was lowered down to safely extricate the bear. Dr Nithin Gowda said, "The bear seemed to have slipped while reaching out for the honeycombs on the periphery of the well. Rescue work like this can be nerve-wracking as both the safety of the public and the animal needs to be kept in mind. The bear is doing well and responding to the treatment."
Sources in the KFD explained that there has been a steady increase in these type of incidents in recent times.
"Recently, a sloth bear had attacked three farmers including two-women of Soorenahalli village near Thovinakere while they were at work in their fields. While two of them had sustained severe injuries, the other person had lost her eyes in the attack," a forest official said.
Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara who represents the Koratagere constituency had visited the ailing injured and directed the forest officials to be on their toes and increase the patrolling to alert villagers about wildlife movement.