Wild bears attacked, pelted to death in Jammu and Kashmir in two back-to-back incidents; police takes cognisance

In a shocking incident, a wild black bear was pelted with rocks to death on Tuesday by youth in Zungalpora village of Devsar area in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district. The video, which has gone viral, shows the animal being attacked with stones and sticks by the locals. The police have taken cognisance of the video and were ascertaining the details, reported Brighter Kashmir. The incident sparked outrage on social media as several people demanded that those behind attack should be identified and must be immediately brought to book. [caption id=“attachment_5091791” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] “We are trying to identify the people who pelted stones at the bear due to which it results the death of bear,” said a police official. He said an FIR will be registered against those who will be found involved in pelting of stones on the wild animal. In another such incident, reported from Dras town in Jammu and Kashmir on 10 May, a brown bear was chased and pelted with rocks before falling off a cliff to its death, The Sun reported. The distressing moment was again recorded in a phone, the footage of which showed the animal clinging to the cliff edge as a stone smashed into its head, sending it tumbling down to the river. According to reports, the bear later drowned after losing its balance and plunging at least 50 feet deep into water. The video also showed the struggling animal trying to escape the villagers after it wandered into the town, presumably looking for food. There comes a point when the bear got its foot tangled in barbed wire and yanked its way free to escape the villagers. The video ends with the locals cheering in the background as the animal eventually falls to its death. Last year in May, a mob of Indian villagers in Odisha brutally beat a bear to death with wooden sticks after it mauled a man who tried to take a selfie with it. The unidentified man was rescued by locals after the animal pounced on him. The animal could be seen leaping on top of the man before biting and clawing him as he desperately tried to escape.