Sloth bear caught, released in tiger reserve

A sloth bear that strayed into residential areas bordering the Kalakkad – Mundanthurai Tiger (KMTR) Sanctuary was caged on Wednesday night and released safely deep inside the KMTR again on Thursday.

After a sloth bear frequented Anavankudiyiruppu, a village near Papanasam and close to the KMTR boundary, the villagers appealed to the KMTR officials to cage the wild animal and translocate it to the deeper parts of the sanctuary.

Subsequently, Field Director of KMTR Murugan visited the areas where the sloth bear was spotted on various occasions and discussed with his subordinates on keeping a cage to catch the wild animal.

As the sloth bear was caged around 11 p.m. on Wednesday, the forest personnel visited the spot along with forest veterinarian Manoharan, who screened the animal for any injury. As the sloth bear was healthy without any injury, it was taken to Kodamadi area beyond Servalar Dam where it was released on Thursday.