Bhubaneswar, June 27: A tribal farmer in Koraput district tackled three wild bears on his own after the animals had attacked him on Tuesday.

Prahlad Khosla, 35, a resident of Bhatiguda village in Boipariguda block, was returning home from fields when the bears, including a female one, attacked him.

Though he managed to grab the neck of the female bear with one hand and closed its mouth with the other, the other two animals attacked him from behind.

During the tussle, the bears mauled his left hand leading to profuse bleeding.

“I was crossing a road in the forest on my way back home around 9am on Tuesday I noticed a bear and two cubs approaching me,” said Khosla of Bhatiguda village.

“Out of fear I took a detour and tried to avoid a direct confrontation with the wild animals, but they chased me,” he said.

“While I was trying to gain control over the bear, the two cubs attacked me from the rear,” he said.

“I was getting exhausted. Had the fight continued for a few more minutes I would have succumbed,” he said. The fierce contest came to an end after around 30 minutes when a group of villagers going to the forest came to his rescue.

The villagers shouted and pelted the three bears with stones. Soon after, he was admitted to Boipariguda hospital. Khosla’s family members have approached the forest officials for compensation. “Once the family members come with proper medical reports, compensation would be given to Khosla,” said Boipariguda forest range officer B. Sahoo.