Two sloth bears were found dead in Kotagiri in two forest stands of the Nilgiris forest division on Wednesday – one trapped and the other electrocuted.
In the first incident, officials said they received information about a dead sloth at Araven in Kotagiri on Wednesday morning. The forest department along with Tamil Nadu Electricity Board personnel visited the area and conducted an investigation into the events leading to the death of the bear.
During the investigation, they found that the heavy rain had led to the cutting of the power line running through the area and its contact with the tree. On the other side, the sloth came into contact with a tree and was electrocuted, leading to its death.
In a separate incident, officials said another sloth bear was found dead at Bikkapathy in Kattabettu forest range on Tuesday. They said they received information that the bear had died after getting stuck in a solar fence. They investigated the incident and found that the bear had indeed died after being caught in the trap.
After investigation, the department registered a case against A. Vikramkumar (23) from Chhattisgarh. He allegedly set up a trap using a brake line to trap wildlife, resulting in the bear being trapped and killed. He was later arrested.
Published – 15 Oct 2025 20:25 IST
