A sloth bear mauled a watchman to death at a farm near the Western Ghats on Friday.According to forest officials, the sloth bear attacked and killed G. Murugan, 61, of Arunachalapuram near Papanasam when he went to a farm at Mela Aambur under Kadayam Forest Range in the evening. Following information from the public, forest personnel went to the spot.Since the wild animal attacked the vehicles of the forest personnel, they could not reach the spot where Murugan’s body was lying on the field. After a two-hour-long ordeal, they chased the sloth bear back into the forest and sent the body to Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital for post-mortem.Senior officials of the forest department visited the spot on Saturday and installed cages at four places to catch and relocate the sloth bear safely. Published - August 01, 2026 08:54 pm IST