unnaturalconditions,butmayalsooccurundernatural
conditionsina numberof species. Therefore, cannibal-
ismoccursacrossnature—thechimpanzee,thehippo-
potamus,thepolarbear,therabbit,theprayingmantis,
thescorpion,thesandtigershark andthehenareknown
to displaycannibalisticbehaviour.
Asthetigerpopulationhasbeenmonitoredclosely
forseveralyearsatKanhathroughcameratrapping,
elephanttracking, conventional photography, theM-
STrIPES software,andthestudy ofindirectevidence,
mosttigersandtheirrelationshipswithinthesocialor-
ganisationaregenerallyknowntotheKanhamanage-
ment.Attimes,eventhemanagementmaypredictthe
death of a certaintigerunderoneof theaboveconditions.
Besides,Kanhahassucha strongandreliablesystemof
patrollingcamps locatedalloverthetigerreserve,espe-
ciallyin thenationalpark,complemented withintensive
patrols throughout theyear,thatalmostnotigerdeath
goesundetected.
Whilea fewadulttigersandcubshavebeencannibal-
isedpartlyinthepastseveralyears,it doesnotmean
thereis anydearthofpreyfortigers atKanha.It is an
equallyoutlandishideathatsometigershaveturned
absolutecannibals,bentuponwipingoutmostofthe
tigerpopulation!
Whether ornotfullyunderstoodacrossanimalspe-THEINCREASING BARASINGHApopulationindicatesthehealthof thegrasslands.