A sloth bear cub that had got stuck in a wire snare inside a teak plantation of the Kerala Forest Department at Shanamangalam, near Kattikulam in Wayanad district, was rescued by forest officials on Tuesday .
The one-year-old bear cub was spotted by front-line forest staff during a routine patrolling around 10 a.m.
A team of forest officials led by North Wayanad Forest Divisional Officer Remesh Bishnoy and Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary warden S. Narendra Babu reached the spot to rescue the animal.
The villagers said poachers normally set up snares in buffer zones and plantation areas to trap animals such as hare and wild boar. However, this was the first instance of a bear being ensnared, they said.
A team of officials led by K. Rakesh, range forest officer, Begur; assistant forest veterinary surgeon A. Aneesh; and members of the Rapid Response Team rescued the animal from the trap.
Later, it was released into the wild as the animal was found healthy and there were no external injuries on it, Mr. Bishnoy told The Hindu.
The forest officials registered a case in connection with the incident. Mr. Bishnoy said the department would launch anti-snare patrolling in all forest fringe areas in the coming days.
