Bear hug scare for Coonoor people again

Coonoor: It is “bear again” in the rural parts of Coonoor comprising Halakkarai village and it is surrounding hamlets as the man-bear conflict has begun to resurface again in the Halakkari slopes.

 A female bear with its two  cubs which kept the residents in scare and kept the foresters on tenterhooks a couple of months ago in Halakkarai village limits, is back again in the Halakkarai village with its cubs which made the villagers become panic-stricken.

Sources said that this adult female bear which is raising its cubs under its careful eyes seemed to have identified the tea gardens around the hamlet as safe hide out to keep the cubs under safety and that’s the reason this bear with its cubs is frequently selecting the tea garden area to stray around.  

This apart, the availability of pears, the fruit which the bear likes most, may be another reason for this bear family trying to stick around in the Halakkarai hamlets, sources added.

Though this bear and its cubs have not done any harm to any human till date, the presence of these wild beasts has instantly triggered panic amongst the residents there as the villagers are scared of venturing into the farm lands, especially, the tea gardens as the movement of the bear amidst the thickly grown tea bushes are not that easy to notice to take precautionary measures.

The villagers in the Halakkarai belt urged the Forest department to find a permanent solution to end the man-bear conflict there and take steps to capture the bear and its cubs to relocate them.