A sleuth of bears appeared on the Bandipora-Gurez road in this north Kashmir district, creating a scare among the people.
The bears were spotted by the officials of the Mechanical department Tuesday evening when they were clearing snow from the roadside.
“We were shocked and scared when we saw bears moving around on the road near ChakNalla,” one of the officials of the department said.
He said the wild animals on seeing them moved towards a village.
“We immediately alerted the people as well as the Wildlife department,” he said.
Following this, a team from the Wildlife department arrived with firecrackers to push the bears away from the village.
“We successfully drove them away to the forests,” said Nazir Ahmad, a wildlife official. “We are not sure whether it was a single family of bears. However, their presence near the human population is a matter of concern.”
Ahmad said during the winters, bears normally remain asleep.
“The heavy snow might have forced them to come downhill in search of food,” he said.