Sanctuary Asia — January 2018

Sanctuary | Conservation Action

Man-eaters or man-killers are much

like the spine-chilling human serial killers

we hear about: the stuff of good stories,

frightening, and extremely rare. In reality,

few tigers that for a variety of reasons

fi nd themselves hunting in human-use

areas actually kill humans – and even

if they should in the course of chance

encounters happen to do so, few stick to

the chronic killing of humans. Most return

to the forest to hunt their natural prey,

sometimes even after extended forays

into human territories.

Take, for example, a recent case

from the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve. In early

August this year, about 30 km. from the

Mala Forest Range, a young male tiger

encountered and killed three men amidst

vast sugarcane fi elds. These fi elds had

ample waterbodies and at least four

documented species of wild ungulates.

From the fi rst two human victims the tiger

consumed sizeable portions. It also killed a

nilgai and a buff alo calf, though the Forest

Department disposed of both carcasses

to prevent the tiger from being poisoned

by locals. Tranquilising and trapping

attempts were made, but failed as the

tiger shied away from the faintest human

presence during the month-and-a-half-

long operation. Subsequently, people were

kept out of the area as a precautionary

measure, allowing the tiger to gradually

move back into the forests of Pilibhit.

In another instance in October

2014, an adult tigress travelled over

200 km. southwards from Pilibhit to the

swampy banks of the Ganga, opposite

Kanpur city. She thrived on feral cattle,

nilgai and hog deer, evading all capture

attempts for nearly six months, after

which she began moving northwards

to Sitapur and disappeared. Monitored

through her pugmarks and infrared

camera traps, she appeared to be a

healthy tigress, completely active at the

dead of night and utterly shy of human

presence. In an earlier case in 2012, a

sub-adult male had been caught on the

outskirts of Lucknow city and released

back into Dudhwa National Park. He had

grown into a full-sized male by 2015, not

coming into confl ict with humans again

after his release.

THE INFIRM AND THE

INEXPERIENCED

It is believed that physically impaired

or infi rm tigers that fail to hunt fl eet-

footed wild prey are most likely to

be inclined towards easier prey like

livestock, and sometimes humans. In

his observations on man-eaters, Jim

Corbett wrote of a number of tigers

and leopards that bore grievous injuries

from porcupine quills, with humans

becoming the prey of choice out

of compulsion.

On August 31, 2016, a tiger was

captured by our Rapid Response Team

(RRT) and the U.P. Forest Department

at the southern tip of the Mailani

Range of the South Kheri Forest

Division. It had killed eight people,

including two minor girls, between

January and August 2016. Only the

seventh victim was consumed. As

in the previous three kills, villagers

gathered swiftly and scared the tiger

away to recover the victim’s corpse.

In each of the last four kills, many

of them spoke about how the tiger

stubbornly stood its ground beside

its kill, in one instance even following

them for sometime as they carried the

victim’s body away.

After the tiger was successfully

tranquilised by our RRT in the forest

patch around which it was hunting, a

quick physical examination revealed

key missing pieces to the story. This

AUGU

STINE PRINC

E

Tigers commonly prey on livestock outside Protected Area boundaries. As they disperse and go on to establish their own home ranges or are ousted

by younger, stronger tigers, they may enter unprotected areas that could also include artifi cial habitats such as sugarcane belts and fi elds.