DELHI / PAURI GARHWAL – A sad news is coming in from Nainidanda block of Dhumakot, Pauri Garhwal in Uttarakhand where a man was grievously injured in a wild bear attack at Bunga village under Nandanagar in Nainidanda block, with the bear reportedly gouging out one of his eyes.
The incident has spread panic in the entire area near and around Bunga village as Nainidanda block has already witnessed several casualties due to maneater leopard attacks in the recent past. According to local sources, women who go to forests to collect fodder for their domestic cattle are literally panicked and fearful, and are now avoiding going to the nearby jungles, which is directly hitting their household economy and livestock rearing.
In Uttarakhand, especially in Pauri and Chamoli blocks of Garhwal, maneater leopard and wild bear attacks have increased manifold with the wildlife department and forest divisions failing to provide any effective rescue or protection to the local inhabitants, who allege they are left to fend for themselves.
The fresh attack comes at a time when human-wildlife conflict in Uttarakhand has reached alarming proportions. According to data tabled in the Uttarakhand Assembly by Forest Minister Subodh Uniyal, a total of 1,296 people have lost their lives and 6,624 people have suffered serious injuries in wild animal attacks in the state from the year 2000 till January 31, 2026. A recent study by Prof. Vishwambhar Prasad Sati of Mizoram University, based on forest department data, recorded 954 deaths between 2000 and 2025, out of which 438 deaths, nearly 46 percent, occurred only between 2020 and 2025, with 2,335 injuries in the same six years, indicating that conflict is no longer occasional but has emerged as a serious threat to life and livelihood. Fatalities touched a high of 84 in 2024, followed by 68 deaths in 2025, and even in the first six months of 2026, 36 human deaths have been recorded, averaging six deaths per month, with leopards responsible for 15 deaths, tigers for 11, elephants for 5, crocodiles for 3, and bear and snake one each.
Leopards remain the deadliest species over the study period, accounting for 548 human deaths and 2,127 injuries, while elephants caused 230 deaths and 234 injuries, tigers 106 deaths and 130 injuries, and bears claimed 70 lives and injured 2,013 people. Bear attacks have risen noticeably in 2025, particularly in the middle Himalayan region of Pauri, Chamoli and Rudraprayag. In 2025 alone, bears killed 8 people and injured 107 people, with the forest ranges of Badrinath and Rudraprayag recording the highest injuries, while leopard attacks in 2025 resulted in 18 deaths and 105 injuries. Forest department estimates put Uttarakhand’s bear population at around 3,200, leopards at around 2,276 to 3,115, elephants at 2,026 and tigers at 560. In several cases, particularly in Pauri district which has the highest leopard population, the administration has been forced to issue shooting orders for declared maneaters after repeated attacks, as was seen recently in Gajald village of Pauri where a 45-year-old man was killed, triggering protests and a two-day closure of schools, and in Rudraprayag and Uttarkashi where forest teams now escort schoolchildren and women collecting fodder.
The government has increased compensation to Rs 10 lakh in case of death and Rs 3 lakh for complete disability and has announced it will bear the entire cost of treatment for the injured, while also deploying quick response teams, solar lights in sensitive areas, bio-fencing and studies on behavioural change of bears, but villagers in Nainidanda say on the ground almost negligible relief has reached them and fear that unless concrete protection is provided, migration and panic will only intensify.
The wild bear has totally mutilated the face of the unfortunate villager. Our voice is not heard and written appeal is not needed upon.
To my mind, ‘Wild bear seems to be a great tactical warrior who believes in incapacitating its prey (enemy) rather than killing it. It wants to contain all resources of the government. But the Govt is equally smart hence totally ignores such incidences to mock wild threats.