A poacher was arrested by the forest officials on Saturday for killing a black bear in Udayapur village under Sukinda forest in the district.

The forest officials also seized 25 kg of bear meat from the poacher.

The arrested man has been identified as Natabar Munda (32) of Bandhaga.

After killing the bear, the arrested man had sold some meat of the bear in a local market. He was booked under Sections 2, 7 and 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act-1972.

On Sunday, he was produced in the local court while the court rejected his bail application and remanded him to the jail custody, said Debendra Chandra Khuntia, Sukinda forest officer. Many tribals consume the bear meat, added the forest officer.

“This is the first incident of bear poaching that has come to light in the forest area this year. We sent the meat to the local veterinary hospital for further examination. The arrested tribal confessed that he had killed the bear and sold its meat in the local market,” said Khuntia.

In another poaching case, the officials have also seized around 15 kg of mouse deer meat from two poachers on Saturday in Nalita village under Bairi forest range.

Both the arrested tribal persons were identified as Khageswar Tiew (25) and Bhima Bearia (34) of Kantidi village.

Mouse deer meat, according to them, sells at `100 per kg.

After a tip-off, the forest officials raided the house of both the poachers and found them chopping up the mouse deer meat for sale.

The officials arrested both the poachers, seized the meat and produced them in the local court and remanded to the judicial custody, said Chandikhol forest officer Dibakar Panda.

Notably, three types of deer, barking deer (kutura), spotted deer (chittala) and mouse deer (guranti) are found in Bairi, Sukinda and Nalita forest areas.

“As the bear and mouse deer are Schedule I animals protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, killing and selling of their meat is a punishable offence,” said the forest officer.

In another case, a barking deer was injured by the villagers in Siha village near Bairi forest on Saturday when the villagers attacked the animal.

The barking deer had strayed into the village pond in search of water for which some persons tried to kill it, but the forest officials rushed to the village and rescued the animal.

The injured barking deer is now undergoing treatment in the veterinary hospital at Badachana, the forest officer informed.