Tranquilised after it attacked 3 men, sloth bear dies a day after being released in the wild in Tamil Nadu

A video of the bear furiously biting a man and people around it screaming and trying to scare it off had gone viral on social media.

Following the incident, the villagers staged a roadblock before the Kadayam forest range office alleging that there were frequent animal attacks and that authorities were not taking measures to prevent such incidents. They also demanded that the government provide financial aid to the injured.

After senior police and government officials convinced the villagers to disperse, forest officials with the help of veterinarians, captured the sloth bear later on Sunday after tranquilising it. Later, they released the bear into the Kadayam forest area.

On Monday evening, the bear died. “We were monitoring its movement to check its adaptation to the new location,” a forest official said.

Speaking to indianexpress.com, Tenkasi Collector P Akash said this is a very rare incident of a bear attacking the residents. “We are carrying out an enquiry and will know more details only after receiving the post-mortem report,” he said. The injured villagers are undergoing treatment at the government hospital and are stable now, he added.