Siliguri, Nov. 29: Bears are straying out of forests in Kurseong and in the past two months there have been two attacks on humans and regular raids for cattle.

The honey lovers have devoured quite a few apiaries, too, besides the kitchen gardens at Ghalaytar, Mana, Labda, Tham, Chambi, Turuk and Babu Khola in Sittong I, II and III gram panchayats.

Residents of these villages recalled that the raids started around October.

“A bear attacked Anita Gurung and her son Diwas at Mana when they were on her way to her mother’s house in the afternoon of October 1,” said Arun Rai of Sittong Busty. Anita fractured her right hand where the animal had struck while Diwas had been clawed all over.

“They were admitted to the Kurseong subdivisional hospital and the forest department bore the expenses of their treatment,” said Rai. Anita and Diwas are residents of Labda Busty-Mungpoo.

The second and the more recent incident of mauling was on November 15 when 71-year-old Chenam Lepcha of Taklit in Sittong I was attacked near his paddy field.

“It was around 8.30am when Lepcha was working in his paddy field. He was caught off guard when the bear attacked him from behind. It ran away when Lepcha cried out for help and villagers reached the spot. But he suffered severe injuries on the chest and head,” said Chandra Rai, another resident of Sittong Busty. Both the attacks had been during the day, but cattle raids had been reported at night.

Those who have seen the bears described them as big and burly measuring up to more than six feet in height. Ever since the attacks, villagers armed with tins, firecrackers and torches have been keeping vigil at night. “On November 24, at 3.30am, the goats in my pen suddenly started bleating. When we rushed out we saw this big bear around six feet in height scrambling away with a goat slung on its back. We burst firecrackers to scare it away. There have been at least 10 instances when cattle was stolen by the bear,” said D.B. Gurung of Tham Dara in Sittong III.

Dhan Bahadur Gurung’s apiary in Labda Busty was raided too. “The honey combs were damaged but nothing much happened to the apiary. The bees, too, were there,” said a villager.

Forest officials said they were doing their best to “restrict the movement of the bears to the forest”.

“According to our survey, three Himalayan Black Bears are causing the damage. Our guards and staff are patrolling the villages daily in a bid to restrict the movement of the bears to the forest. We have provided compensation to the villagers who have lost their cattle and bore the treatment expenses of the three persons who were mauled by bears,” said Dipak Rasaily, the deputy ranger of Baggaura.

Sumita Ghatak, the divisional forest officer, (wildlife I), said one probable reason why bears were straying was the increase in its population. “The problem is not Sittong’s alone. We have got reports of such incidents from other parts of the hills too,” she said.