Bear kills militants in Indian Kashmir

[Sea Skimmer]

Bear kills militants in Kashmir
By Altaf Hussain
BBC News, Srinagar

A bear killed two militants after discovering them in its den in Indian-administered Kashmir, police say.

Two other militants escaped, one of them badly wounded, after the attack in Kulgam district, south of Srinagar.

The militants had assault rifles but were taken by surprise - police found the remains of pudding they had made to eat when the bear attacked.

It is thought to be the first such incident since Muslim separatists took up arms against Indian rule in 1989.

Bodies found

The militants had made their hideout in a cave which was actually the bear's den, said police officer Farooq Ahmed.

The dead have been identified as Mohammad Amin alias Qaiser, and Bashir Ahmed alias Saifullah.

News of the attack emerged when their injured comrade went to a nearby village for treatment.

"Word spread in the village that Qaiser had been killed by the bear," another police officer said.

A joint party of the police and army personnel went into the forest and collected the bodies of the two militants.

Police say they also recovered two Kalashnikov assault rifles and some ammunition from the hideout.

Animal attacks

Wildlife experts say the conflict in Kashmir has actually resulted in an increase in the population of bears and leopards.

Following the outbreak of the insurgency people had to hand in their weapons to police - which put a halt to poaching.

As a result, there has been a greater incidence of man-animal conflict, say experts.

There have been many reports of bears and leopards killing or mauling humans in different parts of the Kashmir valley in recent years.

Three years ago, residents of Mandora village near the southern town of Tral, beat a black bear to death which had strayed into the village.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/s ... 339549.stm

Published: 2009/11/03 12:28:41 GMT

© BBC MMIX

So how do I submit articles to the Colbert Show? I’m not sure if he’d be for or against bears killing terrorists as it indicates a growing level of bear threat to humanity.

[Tsyroc]

The article said that people had to turn in their weapons to authorities because of the conflict and that has cut down on the amount of poaching. So now there are more leopards and bears and fewer armed humans.


Not the brightest move, hiding out in the den of a bear.

[open_sketchbook]

Communist war bear indeed. Way to go, militants. See, bears are the number one threat; they don't like to compete with terrorists.

Also, how do four people with assault rifles fail to kill a bear? How do you not hear it coming inside a cave?

[Shroom Man 777]

It's not like the bear would be stepping on twigs and making a whole lot of noise. Turns out animals that live by eating other animals can actually be pretty quiet because they might need to sneak up on other critters before killing em?

Also, sometimes big angry animals need bigger bullets than assault rifle rounds to kill. If a bear was coming at me inside an enclosed cave, I would not be standing and shooting at it while it's roaring and coming to clout my face off with its claws, and I would instead be running the fuck away while shitting and pissing myself to shed excess weight so I can run even faster.

[Sea Skimmer]

Running away in a cave a bear is coming into? I’m pretty sure unloading an AK-47 into a bear is going to stop it, it’s not like this is an especially big specifies either. I’d assume they were cooking and didn’t hear it over the fire. Better question is why didn’t they notice the smell. Animal dens stink like hell. But then I guess so do Muslim hill tribe insurgents camping out in caves.

[PeZook]

It's not like the bear would be stepping on twigs and making a whole lot of noise. Turns out animals that live by eating other animals can actually be pretty quiet because they might need to sneak up on other critters before killing em?

Nitpick: bears aren't really hunters.

Also, they were probably cooking and talking. Add fear and panic to the mix when the bear actually showed up, and voila! Death!

It's entirely possible they were also careless enough to leave their weapons out of reach and/or unloaded.

[Edi]

However, bears are opportunists and they're strong enough to not really need a whole lot of effort at killing a man. I have no idea how big this one was, but in Finland the brown bears we have here have been known to kill full-grown elk in one blow.

There was one very unusual case where an old bear and a lame wolf teamed up and shared kills. Alone they'd have died of starvation, but they formed a pack and thrived. The wolf would scare elk into the bear's path and wham - dinner for both.

So if those people got caught with their pants down, I'm not at all surprised at the outcome. Animals move fast when they have to.

[Akhlut]

It's not like the bear would be stepping on twigs and making a whole lot of noise. Turns out animals that live by eating other animals can actually be pretty quiet because they might need to sneak up on other critters before killing em?

Nitpick: bears aren't really hunters.

Biology BS nitpick: they can and do kill water buffalo, wild boar, and other large ungulates. They are capable of being hunters, but they mainly prefer scavenging and foraging.

It's entirely possible they were also careless enough to leave their weapons out of reach and/or unloaded.

Bears are extremely fast given their size and ungainly appearance. If the bear got the drop on them, it doesn't matter how close their weapons were if they weren't in their hands with the safety off. The bear would be on them and mauling them before they could get a shot off if they had to actually pick up their guns and aim.