SRINAGAR: A bear attacked and killed a hunter in the central Kashmir district of Budgam, a police spokesman said on Tuesday.
He said a bear entered a village near Charar-e-Sharief town from a nearby forest and attacked 30-year-old Nisar Ahmad Ahangar.
“He received serious injuries in the attack and died on spot.”
But a local news agency, CNS said the Hunter was killed by a leopard after he failed in an attempt to kill the wild cat.
“He (Ahangar) shot at leopard which hit its ear. The animal jumped at Nisar and mauled him resulting his on spot death,” it writes, quoting eyewitnesses.
Leopard and Himalayan black bear populations have increased after a ban on hunting was enforced in Kashmir in 1970’s.
Due to shrinking of their natural habitat, these animals are now wandering into villages and have killed nearly 200 people and maimed thousands since 2005.
Man-animal conflict has shown a drastic increase in the region after authorities erected a fence along Kashmir’s border with Pakistan designed to stop militant incursions.
