BANGKOK, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- An Asian black bear was found dead on Tuesday in northeastern Thailand, four days after it emerged from a wildlife reserve and attacked a man, local media reported.
Rangers of Dong Yai Wildlife Reserve in Buriram Province, found the one year-old female bear dead by a stream nearby the wildlife reserve.
Local media quoted the rangers who said they believed the bear attacked a man who escaped with a mauled arm and broken bone in his left hand last Friday.
Park rangers, officials and village volunteers had been hunting for the bear since Friday, hoping to force it back into the forest for the safety of local residents but found it dead.
"The baby bear might have been separated from its mother and lost its way, wandering into the village," said Dong Yai Wildlife Reserve chief Somsuan Raksat. "Instinct of fear probably drove the bear to attack people."
Meanwhile, Phannarai Wongwattanakit, a veterinarian from the Region 7 Protected Areas Office, examined the dead bear and found no traces of injury.
However, Phannarai said they have conducted an autopsy on the bear and found lasia spinosa, an aquatic plant, in the stomach, which the vet believed was the cause of its death.
