The sloth bear is a readily excitable creature. It often sleeps in the bushes and snores. Since the sloth bear sleeps like a log, often people literally put their feet on it, and the startled sloth bear mauls the person(s).

Crowding at the spot to see what is going on can often land up the people in trouble, especially when the animals is a wild sloth bear. People are often known to throw stones, use sticks to corner an animal. If the people were to leave space, then the sloth bear can run away.

Everyday, thousands of people enter into our jungles to collect fruits like aamla, custard apple, honey, tendu leaves etc which results in people coming directly in contact with animals. When we stop our car in the highways to buy fruits, we don't realise that these have been collected from the forests reducing the fruit available to the sloth bears and monkey and deers etc. Conflict is inevitable.

In forest areas where new settlers have set up their houses, conflict is more prevalent as these people are not aware about the ways of the wildlife. Any wild animal either invokes a feeling of fear if it is a carnivore or a large mammal like elephant or greed for meat if it is smaller herbivores like deers etc. Our wilderness areas and wildlife are facing unprecedented challenges.