Sloth bear dies, cubs' rescue effort on

CHANDRAPUR: Forest officials have initiated operations to capture two young cubs of a sloth bear, after their mother died after falling from a tree in Chichpalli forest range on Monday morning. The body of the bear was recovered on Monday morning.

Officials said that the bear had climbed up a tree near a waterhole in compartment no. 357 to eat honey from beehives and might have fallen during the wee hours. The forest labourers who sat overnight to monitor the waterhole saw the body of the bear in the morning. The two cubs of the dead bear were moving nearby. They immediately informed higher officers who rushed to the spot.

TATR field director Virendra Tiwari and Chandrapur forest division deputy conservator of forests P Kalyankumar inspected the spot. In a bid to rescue to two young cubs, the officers decided not to remove the body of the bear, expecting the cubs to return there. "The bear had an injury on its snout and one of its teeth was broken, suggesting that it had fallen from the tree. As the bear had two cubs aged around six months, we have decided to keep the body there to lure the cubs so that they could be rescued," Kalyankumar said.

He said that a trapping net has been installed overhead the carcass of bear and rescue workers are monitoring the scene. As soon as cubs reach the dead body, they will release the net to capture the cubs.