Forest dept. cautions public on sloth bear movement near T. Subbulapuram; display boards put up on vantage locations

Forest department warns villagers of sloth bear movement in T Subbulapuram village near Andipatti, Theni district, urging caution.

In a pro-active approach, the forest department officials here have put up display boards alerting the villagers regarding movement of sloth bear in T Subbulapuram village near Andipatti in Theni district on Thursday.

Following information about the movement of the wild animal, forest ranger D. Arulkumar said that they have put up boards at prominent locations and also informed the panchayat president.

The farmers have been cautioned not to venture out in the darkness alone and to take care of their belongings around their dwellings. The disposal of vegetable wastes shall also be carried out in a way that the wild animals do not have access.

Last year, the sloth bear had come from the reserve forest area in February and in August this year, too there were movements in the habitations. “Normally, the resting time for sloth bears is estimated to be around 13 to 14 hours a day. Hence, they may take cover in the habitations after eating the left over kept in the open,” an officer said.

Likewise, the villagers have grown guava and sapotta fruits and the sloth bears feed on them.

The Andipatti reserve forest has a coverage of 4,000 hectares and from the cameras installed around, the forest officials said that there may be around 30 to 40 sloth bears in the vicinity, two elephants, spotted deer and monkeys. Though water troughs are being provided for the wild animals, sometimes, they enter habitations.

The public can contact 9486736189 or 7010042896 and inform about movement of wild animals and the forest officials would assist them, the official said.