Tigers that recently killed people in India

Close to the foothills of the Himalaya four tigers ventured out of forests and killed 11 people in the past five months. The killings have challenged the official understanding of man-eaters. Unlike the man-eaters of Kumaon Jim Corbett wrote about, these were not rendered incapable of hunting by either old age or injury. All four tigers were young; two were adolescents.

The 10-year-old tiger - they usually life for 14-15 years in the wild-in Corbett National Park killed Bhagwati Devi of Dhikuli village in the buffer zone of the park on February 6 when she went into the forest to collect firewood. The villagers said the tiger attacked the 50-year-old from behind as she sat collecting wood. Following protests by people, the chief wildlife warden of Uttarakhand issued orders to kill or catch the “man-eater”. The forest department trapped the animal and sent it to a zoo in Nainital on February 10.

Bhagwati Devi’s husband B C Nainwal, however, does not blame the tiger. “It is the policies of the government that made the tiger a victim of public ire,” he said. “The tiger was roaming near Dhikuli for four-five months. The main reason was elephant safaris by resorts here. They are known to throw meat in front of the tiger to increase the sighting of the big cat.” Continue reading »

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