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Residents stunned after tragic tiger attack on 60-year-old worker: 'It created fear among the villagers'

"If they had taken timely action, this unfortunate incident could have been averted."

Photo Credit: Depositphotos.com

Tigers are among the world's most iconic and beloved animals. However, in India, where much of the remaining wild tiger population resides, residents must contend with the reality that these beautiful animals, which we go to such great lengths to protect, are also large predators that pose a danger to humans. Recently, one such conflict ended tragically with the death of a human and a tiger, Mongabay India reported.

What's happening?

In Assam, about 12 miles from a tiger preserve in Kaziranga National Park, residents had spent several months reporting the presence of a tiger. While it is not certain that all incidents involved the same tiger, villagers believe they did.

A tiger attacked and killed 60-year-old cattle herder Gopinath Mili in March, after which multiple livestock were also targeted by a tiger. 

A resident who spoke anonymously to Mongabay said: "Living near Kaziranga, we are used to seeing tigers and rhinos in our village. We are agricultural workers. We sacrifice a portion of our crop for animals such as rhinos, elephants, and wild boars. We never retaliated against any animal. However, after Gopinath was killed, it created fear among the villagers. It [the tiger] was also killing our cattle almost daily. We informed the forest department several times, but they did not take any action."

Eventually, villagers encountered a tiger — which they believed to be the man-killer — in a field early in the morning. They feared an attack and struck first, with several thousand people eventually gathering. By the time officials arrived, the tiger was dead and its claws and tail had been removed.

"The villagers here informed both the Golaghat division and the Kaziranga authorities about the presence of the tiger," Pranab Doley, president of the Greater Kaziranga Land and Human Rights Committee, told Mongabay India. "If they had taken timely action, this unfortunate incident could have been averted."

Why is this wildlife encounter important?

Efforts to conserve species sometimes conflict with the needs of human communities. Normally, conservation programs are designed with people in mind, but further development can push people into animals' territory. (In this case, experts pointed out that the hospitality industry had been encroaching on an important wildlife corridor that may have pushed the tiger into a new area.)

When that happens, encounters are more likely, and that can lead to tragedy for people, animals, or both. Ultimately, it impacts our ability to conserve species at all.

What can be done to ease human-tiger relations?

Several proposals have been made to reduce conflict between people and tigers. First, activists pointed out that the compensation in India for livestock that are killed by tigers is much less than the value of that livestock and isn't paid out reliably. Increasing the availability of those funds could ease relations significantly. Digital monitoring of tiger movements could also help so that farmers and others aren't surprised by an animal's appearance and are less likely to have their work disrupted.

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