YAN: For just the second time in over a decade, a sun bear wandered into Kampung Selengkoh Tengah, Sungai Limau here today.
But this time, the 90kg bear couldn't hide for long as an agriculture drone found its location in the padi field.
"A local drone pilot was spraying pesticides and fertilisers and offered his help to locate the bear.
"Soon enough, the drone spotted the bear about one kilometre away from where it had startled a firefighter this morning," Mohd Faizal Mohd Rodzi, 24, said.
He said the drone pilot then helped to scare the bear out of its hiding spot, providing the opportunity for the Wildlife Department staff to fire tranquilliser shots.
"They fired at least three to four shots before the bear was finally sedated and eventually captured," said Faizal, who was born and raised in Kampung Selengkoh Tengah.
He was among those who rushed to the scene after several farmers spotted the bear near a padi harvester parked in a field located behind Masjid Kabu 10 at 10am today.
"The bear was huge," he said.
Faizal said the villagers believed the bear had wandered for nearly 12km from the Gunung Jerai forest reserve before reaching the village.
"It is dry season, so it is common for snakes and other venomous animals to wander away from their natural habitat, but we did not expect to see another bear again after a decade," he said.
The bear became quite a tourist magnet with social media's help, drawing thousands of people including those from neighbouring districts to the village.
According to Faizal, the first bear sighting at the village occurred when he was in primary school.
"It was almost as big as the one caught today."
It was reported earlier that a sun bear which had attacked a firefighter this morning had been captured less than three hours after the 10.15am incident.
State Wildlife Department director Jamalul Nasir Ibrahim said the female bear was captured at 12.50pm, after being shot with a tranquilliser.
Jamalul said the bear would be sent to the National Wildlife Rescue Centre in Sungkai, Perak.
It was also reported that Yan Fire and Rescue Department chief Norhamidi Ali said the injured firefighter Mohd Nizam Hamid, 27, was in stable condition at Yan Hospital.
He said Mohd Nizam was believed to have slipped and fallen while trying to capture the bear, and suffered wrist injuries.
Mohd Nizam was trying to capture the wild animal in a joint operation with the state Wildlife Department and Malaysia Civil Defence Force following a report on the animal's sighting yesterday.