Satavahana University on alert over bear-spotting

Karimnagar: A bear was spotted on CCTV cameras installed on the premises of the Satavahana University, for the third time since March, creating panic among students and people living in the vicinity of the varsity in Karimnagar district.

The university authorities immediately informed the forest department, which sent a team to trap the animal. The forest department officials are on the job and as part of their efforts, directed students and staff not to venture out alone after 5 pm.

Sources said that the forest department officials are apprehensive that the recent dense growth of bushes following heavy rainfall could make tracking the bear and subsequently, capturing it, a difficult task.

Locals said that man-animal conflicts are on the rise as forests in the region were exploited on a large scale for granite, due to which animals and birds are entering human habitats for food and water.

Previously, a bear was first noticed on the university campus in March, when students found the animal near the gate of the girls’ hostel. A three-day holiday was declared at the time, but the bear was not captured.

The animal made another appearance on the campus in July, but authorities failed to capture it the second time too.

It is suspected that the same animal has appeared again, as the campus is spread across 200 acres, with densely grown trees and shrubs, along a hilly and mountainous terrain, which is best suited to bears.