Bhubaneswar: Increasing cases of man-animal conflicts in the state have become a cause of concern for forest officials and environmentalists.

Environmentalists are holding the destruction of natural habitat as the primarily cause of such incidents.

" Forests are home to wild animals who depend on them for food and protection. If forests are destroyed animals are bound to enter human habitations, which is happening right now," said former environment director Bhagirathi Behera citing some recent instances of bear and elephant attacks in various parts of the state.

On April 2, three persons were killed and five others were injured in an attack by a wild bear in Keonjhar district. The bear attacked these people when they had gone to the Bhalupahadisahi forest for collecting Mahua flowers.

Last year, in October, a wild bear was beaten to death by an angry mob after it killed a resident of Bhurudapalli village in Ganjam district.

In 2016, wild bears attacked and killed three persons, including a woman in Nabarangpur district. The victims had gone into a forest under the Jharigaon range to collect firewood.

Elephants, too, have been coming into conflict with humans frequently in the state. During the past six years 393 elephants have been killed in the state while 300 jumbos have been killed by human beings. In June, last year, three elephants - two females and a calf - were electrocuted by high-tension electric wires in the Borapada forest on the outskirts of Dhenkanal.

Similipal deputy director J.D. Pati cited several reasons for human-wildlife conflicts in the state. "Less use of public toilets and more use of community ponds and river banks in elephant dominated landscapes like Angul and Dhenkanal and convergence of humans and sloth bear for kendu leaf and mahua collection are prominent causes of such incidents," he said.

Green activist Bijay Mishra said human beings disturb animals through industrial activities even without entering into the forests.