ERODE: The bear population in Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve here was stable and poised for further increase, a senior forest department official has said.

When the Animal Census was conducted some months back, it was enumerated as 50 bears living in the Kundry area. But now increase has been noticed in bear population and it might have crossed 100, Rajkumar, Director of Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) told reporters here.

"The bear population has increased in the Kundry, Malliamdurgam and Naripallam forest areas in the Thimbam forest range in the STR. The areas are having enough food for the bear like grass, roots, berries and insects," he said.

"Such increase in bear population is due to strict enforcement of guidelines and rules under Forest Conservation Act and eradication of poaching of animals", he said.

The forest department had recently noticed movement of bears with its cubs in the Naripallam area of the STR.

He appealed to the people living in the settlement areas of STR not to go close to tamarind and other fruit bearing trees as recently a bear attacked a passerby in Malliamdurgam area near the tamarind tree.

The bears prefer to consume tamarind and some other fruits, he said.