KOTA BARU, Jan 10 — Villagers, including the Orang Asli community who live near Pos Balar in Gua Musang, have been warned not to approach a bear seen roaming there if they sense the presence of the wild animal again.

Kelantan director of the Department of Wildlife Protection and National Parks (Perhilitan) Mohamad Hafid Rohani said the reminder was to safeguard the already fearful residents and ensure that animals in the wild like the straying bear were not threatened in an accidental conflict with humans.

Commenting further on dealing with a previous close encounter when the bear was spotted raiding an orchard in the village, Mohamad Hafid said that if his wildlife rangers succeed in reaching the remote area, some precautions taken would be to install light emitting diode (LED) lights to scare the bear away and to install traps along the trail.

"Currently, the route to enter the (Pos Balar) area is quite inaccessible as the road terrain is quite ruggedly challenging due to the foul weather.

"So, our rangers will try to enter the area tomorrow (January 10) which will take about five hours, but that again depends on the unpredictable weather conditions later,” he said when contacted by Bernama yesterday.

Previously, media reported two separate incidents involving the presence of a bear at an Orang Asli village near Kampung Dakoh and Kampung Perawas in Pos Balar, in which the wild animal was seen raiding the orchards for durian and prowling in the cemetery as a villager claimed it dug up a recent grave to devour the corpse. — Bernama