Man-eating and cattle-lifting by tigers and conservation implications in India

Abstract

We investigated the incidences of human casualties and cattle-lifting by tigers and circumstances of attacks and suggested mitigation strategies. In India, tigers mostly survive in small numbers in protected areas which are isolated due to habitat fragmentation and disturbances. Man-killing behaviour and predation on cattle are the main issues of confrontation, and as a result, the conservation efforts are adversely affected. In the states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal, tigers have caused 161, 51, 7, 133, 25 and 445 human casualties respectively during 1990-2009. In Madhya Pradesh, 133 human casualties occurred in and around 6 national parks, 14 sanctuaries and 20 forest divisions. Male casualties were more (n=656) than female casualties (n=166). Out of 822 human casualties, most human casualties (n=376) occurred in the age group of 25-30 years. Most tiger casualties of humans (51%) occurred between 16:00-20:00h. Tigers in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Orissa and West Bengal killed 511, 1938, 1899 and 733 cattle, respectively, during this period. In Madhya Pradesh, tiger and leopard killed 18736 cattle and a majority of cattle kills occurred within protected areas and reserve forests (92.6%) than in cattle sheds and outside the forests (7.4%). This has led to a strong resentment among people and they showed increased apathy and antagonism towards tiger conservation. Recommendations for reducing the human-tiger conflict include are suggested.

Keywords

• cattle killings
• conflict
• human deaths
• injuries
• man-eater
• mitigation
• tiger
• tiger reserves