Seasonality of human–bear conflict On the Deccan Plateau and Gujarat, most sloth bear attacks occurred in winter, which differs significantly from the seasonality of attacks reported by other studies. Unlike other study areas, people on the Deccan Plateau and in Gujarat are more active in the forest in winter when monsoons and crop harvests have ended. The higher incidence of attacks during monsoons in central India correlates with the increased presence of people farming and protecting crops from cattle depredation, as well as from bears and other wildlife species grazing in nearby forested areas5, 16,17,18. The Kanha–Pench Corridor study was the only one which documented an increase in sloth bear…