Wild bear kills one more villager in Kashmir

Srinagar, Aug 9 (UNI) In another instance of man-animal conflict, a 45-year-old villager was killed by a wild bear in south Kashmir today.

A police spokesman said the bear suddenly appeared at Kudpora and attacked Bashir Ahmad, who died on the spot.

As many as 30 people have been killed and more than 122 wounded in attacks by leopards and bears in Jammu and Kashmir during the past two years.

More than 150 people have lost their lives and about 1,500 wounded in man-animal conflicts during the past ten years in the state.

Recently, authorities killed a bear, that had wreaked havoc in the area, at a village in the border district of Kupwara in north Kashmir while two leopards were also killed by the people since January this year in the valley.

The reasons behind the increasing man-animal conflicts in the state were the shrinking habitats of wild animals, increasing human settlements, deforestation and decrease in herbivore population.

UNI