Baramulla: More than six sheep were mauled to death by a black bear in a Handwara village on Saturday night.
Locals said that a black bear barged into the cow shed of Mohammad Maqbool Geelani at Shatigam village of Rajwar Handwara on Saturday night and more than six sheep were killed before he was chased away to the nearby forests. The family sources said that they heard noise in their cow shed, when they reached near the cow shed a black bear jumped out from its one of window and ran towards the nearby forests, however six sheep were found dead while several others were injured. The locals said that this is not the first episode in the village, from past several weeks black bears are roaming in the village in night hours due to which a fear has been created among the local residents of the area. They blamed that they informed the department of wildlife to curb the movement of wild beasts in civilian areas but they are not paying attention. “The day is not very far when wild beasts will kill any civilian in the area” locals alleged. The officials of the wildlife department said that a team of officials has been sent to the area to check the situation and the department will install a cage in the area to catch the beast. They said that two black bears were already captured in the area including a cub.

Mushtaq Ahamd