Though the group of people accompanying Jeet Kumar back to Kehsan village in the district's Anni sub-division scared the animal away by shouting and blowing whistles, Jett succumbed to injuries on the spot. Anni deputy superintendent of police Baldev Thakur said Jeet had returned to the village after selling vegetables in the main market of Anni.
"The bear suddenly came out of the bushes when Jeet along with few others was near the village. He sustained deep injuries around the neck and throat in the attack that just last a few seconds. His body has been handed to his family after the post-mortem," he said.
Man-animal conflicts in Himachal have been increasing in the recent past. Many people have lost their lives in the past few years. Bears and leopards are the main dangers lurking around thinly populated areas. As the winter is near, wild animals have started to descend from higher reaches to lower areas in search of food and water, increasing the possibility such attacks. A large number of people in Kullu claim to have sighted bears and leopards close to human settlements.
A person was killed by a leopard in Lag valley of Kullu on March 25 this year. Leopard had cut the body into pieces. A couple of man-eating leopards were stalking villages in Mandi district in July and August 2013. They killed a woman on July 18 and a man each on July 24 and July 26. One of them was gunned down by a hunter who was hired by wildlife department of Himachal.
Snow leopard, brown bear and Tibetan wolves live in snowbound areas of the state and leopard and black bear live in middle, lower and cold regions of the state. A complete ban on hunting the wild animals during 1984 has resulted in increase in their population which has also increased the instances of man-animal conflicts.
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