Injured bear caught near Koratagere village rescued

In a four-hour-long rescue operation, the Wildlife SOS team from Bannerghatta Bear Rescue Centre and Forest Department officials rescued and released a wild sloth bear cub trapped in a barbed wire fence near Koratagere village, Karnataka.

Chinnappa, Range Forest Officer of Korataege, saw the bear and called the Wildlife SOS team at the Bannerghatta Bear Rescue Centre.

The team saw a sloth bear cub entangled in a barbed wire fence near Koratagere village in Tumakuru district. Drawn by the painful cries of the animal, local farmers at a betel nut plantation were shocked to find a barbed wire intertwined around the cub’s waist.

Animals such as wild boars, Nilgai and sloth bears often venture out to the remote villages bordering forests in search of fruits and berries grown by the villagers. To prevent them from consuming and damaging their crops, farmers often lay barbed wire fences bordering their plantations.

Dr Arun A. Sha and a four-member rescue team from Wildlife SOS along with forest officials rushed to the spot. In an attempt to break free, the bear had been struggling for hours causing the metal wire to tighten its grip around the waist and entangled fur. The team had to first immobilise the animal before cutting through the wire. A thorough medical assessment of the female bear cub was conducted after the wire was removed and immediate treatment was provided for her wounds that she had suffered during her struggle to break free from the wire. The bear was transferred to a transit facility where it was kept under observation for a few hours and later released back into its natural habitat.

“The cub is a female aged around nine months. Apart from sustaining minor cuts and bruises, she lost a tooth from gnawing on the metal wire. We had to gently cut through the wire and administer topical treatment for the wounds along with anti-inflammatory injectables,” Sha said.