The month of May 2025 was full of articles about humans being killed by tigers. What caught my attention was an article in the newspaper, which read three women were killed by Tiger in Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, Sindewahi area of the Brahmapuri Forest Division on same day. It is this article that has made me write this blog. As usual due to my corporate and personal responsibilities, I’m delayed in publishing this article. Better late than never 🙂
Tadoba is one of the most pristine tiger habitats in India. It is a conservation success story and the number of tigers in the protected area is close to a hundred, whereas outside the protected area, the total number of tigers in the Chandrapur landscape is more than a hundred. Further, there are close to 90 villages along the periphery of the park. What it means is that the conflict between humans and Tigers/wildanimals cannot be avoided completely.
The month of May is a period of Tendu Patta collection and Mahua flower gathering(March end-April). It is not unusual to hear news of human attacks in this landscape during this period. It is a great threat to life on the edge of the forest. Around my farmland, most ladies and some old folks of the household go for tendu pata collection in May. These leaves are then dried under the hot scorching summer sun to remove moisture before stacking and packing them into large jute sacks and selling them off to local traders, who in turn sell them to tobacco manufacturers. The money is meagre yet important for the sustenance of the local families for the upcoming period till the next harvest from the farms is encashed. The times to enter and exit the park are decided by local park rangers. Generally the permited time is after sunrise and before sunset for few days of the year.
Coming to why these incidents happen, simple, due to mistaken identity. Tigers mistakenly kill humans, assuming them to be their prey especially when humans are bent over to collect Tendu Patta or Mahua flowers. In this case, the three women mauled by the Tiger were collecting Tendu leaves early morning before the designated time. The location of the attack is outside the protected area, close to a village. I have been informed that the tigress is raising her third litter. What concerns me is that, Why did she kill multiple humans at the same time? Was she teaching her cubs something that she shouldn’t? How to hunt? Training them on how to prey on humans? Or is it that she killed humans to feed her cubs as a result of injury? Either way, it is a scary situation and definitely life-defining for the family who lose their loved ones. Out of the 3 ladies killed by a tigress, 2 belonged to the same family unit. Unfortunate and unbearable loss for the husband/son and, his kids who lost their mother and grandmother at sametime. In a similar sad incident, a blind man 80 years in age lost his wife to a tiger attack while collecting tendu patta, she was the sole breadwinner of the blind man family.
Whatever the case, if she has killed humans to feed her cubs it is a sign of distress for wildlife management as it would lead to the losing natural instinctive fear of humans. The tribals/locals on the other hand, are dependent on the forest for resources. Not just that, despite all the support provided by the forest department, unfortunately, many locals still believe it is better to be killed by a tiger, then live a miserable life of meagre income coming from marginal farming. Whenever a human is killed by a tiger, the family gets compensated by ?25 lakhs by the department. This has contributed to the protection of tigers by locals, but at the cost of human life. Some villagers sometimes value ?25 lakhs more than their own lives. In my first-hand experience recently, during the safari, a tigress was in the bushes of the mud dam backwaters, and locals gathered to see her from the dam wall, absolutely fearless (and careless), oblivious to her strength that tiger carries. She had been crouching in a charging position, yet the humans defied her. Fortunately, nothing untoward happened that evening. This is a big concern for me. The tiger loses its fear of humans, and locals lose their fear of tigers.
It is a very diabolical situation for the department to handle on one end, they have to protect the Tiger, and on the other hand, they have to protect humans, who are ready to die in lieu of compensation for the family members to get a better life. This paradox is a grave concern that needs the creation of alternate job options, creating a newer skill set and entrepreneurship projects, so that the compensation amount doesn’t make the locals reckless in their behaviour. To achieve this, it is necessary that each one of us contribute to supporting the locals by means of any skill that we can assist them in developing and reduce dependency on the forest. In a study conducted by the forest department in MP, one visitor to the park for safaris contributes to the sustenance of 11 families for one day. Tourism looks like a viable solution but might not be very sustainable in the long run. Think about it, what can we do?
P.S. The tigress and the cubs have been caught by the department and moved away to a safer enclosure. Also it is not just tigers there are other animals that cause negative man-animal interaction like bears, snakes etc.
So much so for the spirit of the wild!