Tiger attacks on humans in India have been a longstanding problem, with over 373,000 deaths between 1800 and 2009 according to one study. Certain tigers become man-eaters when injured, sick, or unable to catch regular prey, seeing humans as easy targets. Several notorious man-eating tigers operated in India in the past, such as the Champawat Tiger that killed over 200 people. The Sundarbans region continues to see occasional tiger attacks, though the rate has declined from 50-60 per year historically to about 3 today due to better management. Possible reasons for aggression in Sundarbans tigers include the salty water, difficulty of hunting with tides, and scavenging of human corpses after
2. Tiger aTTacks
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Tiger attacks are an extreme form of human–wildlife conflict which occur for
various reasons and have claimed many human lives.
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Man-eaters have been a recurrent problem for India, especially
in Kumaon, Garhwal and the Sundarbans mangrove swamps of Bengal.
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Study of deaths due to tiger attacks estimates that at least 373,000 deaths due to
tiger attacks between 1800 and 2009.
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In Southeast Asia, attacks gradually declined after peaking in the nineteenth
century, but attacks in South Asia have remained high, particularly in
the Sundarbans.
3. reasons
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In some cases tigers change their natural diet and become man-eaters, usually
caused by a tiger being incapacitated by a gunshot wound or some other factors,
such as health issues and disabilities.
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Tigers will only attack a human if they cannot physically satisfy their needs
otherwise.
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Although humans are relatively easy prey tigers are typically wary of humans and
usually show no preference for human meat.
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Generally tiger don’t attack any prey when they are not hungry, but rarely some
are habituated to kill, not for food but as a hunting game.
4. some well known man eaTers
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The Champawat Tiger was a notorious man-eating tigress, killed some 200 men
and women of Nepal.
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She moved to Champawat district in the state of Uttarakhand in North India, and
continued to kill, bringing her total human kills up to 436.
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The Tigers of Chowgarh were a pair of man-eating Bengal tigers, consisting of an
old tigress and her sub-adult cub, which for over a five year period killed a
reported 64 people in eastern Kumaon Division of Uttarakhand in Northern India.
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All the three tigers were killed by Jim Corbett.
5. Some well known man eaterS
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The Thak man-eater was a tigress from Eastern Kumaon division, who killed only
four human victims, but her story is widely known as the last hunt of the legendary
hunter, conservationist and the author Jim Corbett.
6. Some well known man eaterS
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The Tiger of Mundachipallam was a male Bengal tiger which killed 7 people in the
vicinity of the village of Pennagram, four miles (6 km) from the Hogenakkal
Falls in Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu. The Mundachipallam tiger was later
killed by Kenneth Anderson.
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The Tiger of Segur was a young man-eating male Bengal tiger who killed five
people in the Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu state in South India.
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It was also killed by Kenneth Anderson on the banks of the Segur River.
7. the man eaterS of SundarbanS
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The Bengal tigers of the Sundarbans used to
regularly kill fifty or sixty people a year. This
was strange given that the tigers were usually
in prime condition and had adequate prey
available.
8. the man eaterS of SundarbanS
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Approximately 600 tigers live in this
region, possibly the largest single
population anywhere in the world.
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The kill rate has dropped significantly due
to better management techniques and
now only about three people lose their
lives each year.
9. Some possible reasons for the Sundarbans
tigers to be more aggressive towards humans
are:
•Sundarbans is in coastal area, the water is
relatively salty. The saltiness of the water in
this area has put them in a state of constant
discomfort, leading them to be extremely
aggressive.
10. •
Tigers demarcate their territory by their
urine which is destroyed by the high tides
in the area. The only way for the tiger to
defend its territory is to physically
dominate everything that enters.
11. •
The tigers find hunting animals difficult
due to the continuous high and low tides
making the area marshy. Humans travel
through the Sundarbans on boats
gathering honey and fishing, making for
easy prey.
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Weather calamities like cyclones in this
part of India and Bangladesh kill
thousands, and the bodies drift out in to
the swampy waters, where tigers
scavenge them and hence give them a
taste of human flesh.
12. •
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It is also believed that when a person
stoops to work, the tiger mistakes
them for an animal, and has, over
time, acquired a taste for the human
flesh.
Since these tigers see humans often,
they are not scared to come near, and
hence even come into the human
established areas.
15. some precautions by the people
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Avoiding the Tiger if it comes in front.
Confusing the Tiger-wear a mask on the back
of head as they generally attack from back.
Staying Upright and Alert as tigers are more
likely to attack a person who is crouched over
such as a hunter or someone harvesting a crop
Using a Weapon, the best bet is to use any implement at hand to beat or
stab the tiger until it gets a bit scared.
Less interference in the tiger’s region