Amidst the throng of tourists visiting Nainital, a hotel owner in Tallital area was confronted by a black bear which also took a swim in the Naini lake during the morning hours on Sunday. The hotel owner is reported to have sustained minor injury in the chance encounter with the bear, which also ended up breaking a window glass and caused quite a commotion before jumping into the lake and swimming across and taking the Thandi Sadak towards the shelter of the forests.
Hotel owner Atul Sah was going for his routine morning walk on Sunday when a bear entered the hotel, causing minor injury to Sah in the chance encounter. Sah said that he somehow managed to save himself from the bear which then broke through the glass windows and ended up inside the room number four of the hotel. Apparently searching for a way out of the situation, the bear came out of the hotel room and entered the hotel’s staff room. The shouting and noise made by people inside the staff room scared the bear out of the room. After remaining in the location for some time, the bear left the place and entered the Vrindavan guest house compound, causing panic among people before taking the route adjoining the India Hotel and diving into the lake. The sight of a bear swimming in the Naini lake created a sensation with the forest department also being informed about the same. The bear swam across the lake and moved towards the jungle using the Thandi Sadak. Forest department staff also reached the site and searched for the bear but could not trace it. About two hours later, the bear was reported to have been sighted near Gurney House in the Ayarpati area. The department staff reached this site only to ascertain that the bear had left the site and gone into the jungle.
Forest ranger of the Nainital zoo Pramod Tiwari and other department staff were involved in the operation which was started at about 6 AM.