Tshering Namgyal | Mongar

The six camera traps installed to identify the animal that attacked an Indian labourer in Bondeyma on the night of November 13 have only captured footage of deer.

Forest officials said while they suspected the animal to be a black panther or bear, the cameras did not show any such image.

Ranger Dechen Thinley, who is the forest focal person at the Gyalsung Project at Bondeyma, said the camera traps will remain in their places. “In addition, a temporary trap will also be set to catch the animal.”

He is currently in Thimphu to fetch a cage and the tranquillizing equipment needed for the capture from the Nature Conservation Division. He said the animal would be caught with the help of a temporary trap if it appears again, tranquilised immediately, moved into the cage, and then released into a distant jungle.

Meanwhile, the victim was discharged from the Mongar eastern regional referral hospital (ERRH) on November 20, a week after the incident.

The 51-year old man was attacked by the unidentified animal suddenly when he went to relieve himself in the bushes close to the labour camp in the darkness.

The victim suffered a severe facial injury with a deep wound in the upper lip with two teeth removed, besides a fracture of the maxillary facial bone. Limbs were also injured.

Surgeons with the ERRH said it would take about three to four months for a full recovery.