A man lost his eye when a group of villagers in Chanthaburi province were attacked by three large bears while foraging for forest produce. The incident, which occurred around 2.30pm yesterday, left Uthai, a 41 year old man, seriously injured with deep facial lacerations and his right eyeball missing. Multiple authorities collaborated to trek five hours to rescue the victim and transport him to the hospital.

 

The villagers had been foraging Soi Dao Mountain, situated within the Soi Dao Wildlife Sanctuary near Khao Kitchakut National Park, in search of wild elephants. They stumbled upon the bears while pausing to gather forest goods along the way. The other two individuals managed to flee and inform authorities.

 

It took the rescue team over four hours to reach the injured man, who could still communicate despite his severe injuries. After administering first aid, the team transported Uthai downhill and initially to a nearby hospital. Due to the severity of his condition, he was later transferred to Phra Pok Klao Chanthaburi Hospital for closer monitoring.

 

by Nattapong Westwood

 

Picture courtesy of ทุก(ข์)เรื่องเมืองจันท์ Facebook

 

Full story: https://thethaiger.com/news/national/villager-attacked-by-bears-in-thai-forest-suffers-severe-facial-injuries

 

-- © Copyright Thaiger 2023-06-12

 

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3 hours ago, webfact said:

Multiple authorities collaborated to trek five hours to rescue the victim and transport him to the hospital.

That was quite some forage they went on.

it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye

6 hours ago, webfact said:

The villagers had been foraging Soi Dao Mountain, situated within the Soi Dao Wildlife Sanctuary near Khao Kitchakut National Park, in search of wild elephants

Don't know which is worse.

Wild bears or wild elephants.

Seems like a bad idea to take stuff from a wildlife / Nature reserve..... Is that even legal? 

 

 

10 hours ago, webfact said:

The villagers had been foraging Soi Dao Mountain, situated within the Soi Dao Wildlife Sanctuary near Khao Kitchakut National Park, in search of wild elephants.

Going to need a really big bag if you're foraging for elephants.