NEW DELHI, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- At least four people were killed and three others mauled after a wild bear attacked them in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, officials said Monday.
The bear attacked them at a forest in Chhattisgarh's Koriya district, about 329 km north of Raipur, the capital city of the state.
"Last evening a wild bear attacked people near village Angwahi under Devgarh forest range, killing four and injuring three others," Satya Narayan Rathor, collector of district Koriya said. "The bodies have been sent for post-mortem and injured have been hospitalized."
According to officials, the victims were inside the jungle to collect forest produce.
Following the incident, forest officials and police teams were rushed to the area to chase away the bear.
The attack triggered panic among local residents.
Wildlife officials said human presence inside forest area makes bears feel insecure, following which they resort to attacking people. At times these creatures are attacked by scared villagers in retaliation which also proves fatal for them.
There are strict laws in India against the killing of wild animals.
Wildlife experts said mass urbanization, denudation of forests, encroachment of forestland, vanishing of buffer zones in the forests and extraction of medicinal plants are some of the reasons for increasing conflict between humans and animals.
Every year many people get killed or injured in the growing man-animal conflict across India. Enditem
