Sloth Bear Shot Dead In Uttarakhand After It Attacked Forest Officials During Rescue Effort

A sloth bear was shot dead by Forrest Officials in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district during an operation to capture it.

The incident happened on Tuesday night in Joshimath area.

What happened?

According to the forest department it had deployed a team in the area after locals informed them about the presence of a bear in the Singhdwar area.

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While the team was setting down a net to capture it during the night, the bear charged at the forest officials.

An official then opens fire in an attempt to ¡°save their lives¡±, killing the sloth bear.

¡°The bear attacked the team and injured five people. In order to ¡°save their lives¡±, the forest department team was forced to shoot the bear, the Forest Department said in a statement.

The Forest Department also released the video of the incident. In the video, officials can be seen laying the net, but the bear charges at them, after which an officer opens fire.

#WATCH | Forest officials shot dead a sloth bear after it attacked some of them when they were trying to catch it in Joshimath area of Chamoli, Uttarakhand last night.

A team of forest officials tried to catch the bear after it attacked some locals.

(Video: Forest Department) pic.twitter.com/emTxmuMBcm

¡ª ANI (@ANI) September 22, 2021

Sloth bears are native to the Indian subcontinent and are found across the country. They are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, mainly because of habitat loss and degradation.

BCCL/ Representational Image

Over the years, the number of human-bear conflicts has increased, mostly due to the shrinking habitat of the animals.

In 2016 an IUCN assessment predicted that the bear¡¯s populations will decline by more than 30 percent over the next 30 years due to habitat loss and human exploitation of the bear¡¯s food sources.