Two men were killed by a mother sloth bear on June 11 after she found her two cubs axed to death inside Ambabarwa Wildlife sanctuary, which is part of Melghat Tiger Reserve (MTR).

As per forest officials, the incident occurred at 7:30 am on June 11 in compartment number 357 under Sonala forest range in Akot wildlife division of MTR. A press release by Deputy Conservator of Forest (DCF), MTR, informed that the victims Ashok Gavte (52) and Mana Gavte (42), residents of Nimkhedi village, had illegally ventured deep inside the core area of tiger reserve with an intention of poaching.

Forest officials found two six-to-eight-month-old cubs of the sloth bear lying 15 metres away from the bodies of the men. The cubs had marks of axe injuries on their bodies as per the press release. An official from MTR told TOI: Sloth bears are very protective about their cubs and defend them from any predator, including humans. It is possible that the bear attacked the two after they axed her two cubs to death.

Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar along with his family on Friday visited Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve in Chandrapur for a tiger safari.

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In an unusual case, Nagpur forest department rescued a python, which had got entangled in nylon manjha and was immediately taken to Transit Treatment Centre.

The manjha had got entangled nearly two feet below the snakes mouth. Since the python had consumed a crow earlier, it got rotten and happened to be stuck inside, exactly where the manjha had got entangled.

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The doctors including Dr Mayur Kate cut the manjha and removed the crow and operated the snake. However, the condition of the reptile has improved since then.

 Watch the video of the operation below: