Nabarangpur: A youth’s bid to click photos of a bear proved to be a disaster. He was mauled to death by a wild bear at Kujaguda Padabasa reserve forest under Kodinga police limits in Nabarangpur district Wednesday. The victim was Prabhu Bhatra, a native of Daleiguda village under Papadahandi block.
Bhatra was returning from Karchamala with some passengers on board a Mahindra Bolero vehicle when he noticed the presence of the bear near a pond in the forests near Kujaguda village. He got down from the vehicle and tried to click in some photos.
The animal, in a jiffy, pounced on him. He grappled with the bear for over half an hour and then jumped into the pond screaming for help. The animal refused to leave him and stood on guard near the pond.
He lay there, writhing in pain and blood dripping from his body for over three hours before breathing his last.
Forest officials with a tranquilizer team and police rushed to the spot. They tranquilized the animal but it hid itself somewhere and then made good its escape from the scene. The forest officials and police recovered the body of Bhatra from the pond.