Multiple attacks by the brown bears on Balakot villages have left a local herdsman injured and nearly 100 goats killed.
Lamenting that the incidents of bear attacks were increasing gradually in Palandrian, Barak, and adjoining villages. A local, Sarfaraz Siyal, told: “A number of brown bears entered the village from the nearby mountains at night and attacked and killed 11 goats.”
Ghulam Nabi Siyal, who had sustained injuries during a recent attack on his herd by bears, said that the Wildlife Department should take notice of the situation.
The bears used to destroy the standing crops in the villages but the wild creature had started attacking goats after harvest of the crops, he said.
“The bears will start attacking human beings in the area if the Wildlife Department doesn’t launch a crackdown,” Siyal added.
Previous Brown Bear Attack
A brown bear attacked and seriously injured two women working in an agriculture field in the Kotgalli area of Balakot. –September 13, 2020
The women stated to be daughters of Muhammad Sadiq, and his brother Muhammad Iqbal. They were working in their fields when a brown bear appeared suddenly and attacked them, leaving them seriously injured.
The injured were shifted to the King Abdullah Teaching Hospital in Mansehra. The condition of both of them was stated to be out of danger. Meanwhile, six people were injured seriously when a pickup vehicle collided head-on with a taxicab in the Kotkay area.
The locals rushed to the scene and shifted the injured to the King Abdullah Teaching Hospital; wherefrom three of them were referred to the Ayub Medical Complex Hospital in Abbottabad.