Maneater of Devprayag / Chandmari.

[TwoRivers]

Whenever predators are not hunted, they lose their fear of man. Who, after all, was prey in the dim past, before we became smart enough to make tools and weapons, becoming the ultimate predator. More contact with humans, without averse reaction, and the big predators revert to their ancient ways of regarding man as just another prey species.

[prashantsingh]

The stress of circumstances is , in nine cases out of ten, wounds, and in tenth case old age."

Surprisingly, this has changed and is no longer true. Hunters in recent years have seen healthy leopards turning maneaters.

I was talking about this bodhi.
Here is a snap of the last maneater Singh shot near Dehradun. Took almost a year to get her.
She was a young female in the prime of youth and with no injuries. She had killed 3 kids and mauled many adults. Was finally shot in December a couple of years ago. The fact that there were no further leopard attacks thereafter proves that she was the killer, and the right animal had been shot.

[bodhijobs]

The stress of circumstances is , in nine cases out of ten, wounds, and in tenth case old age."

Surprisingly, this has changed and is no longer true. Hunters in recent years have seen healthy leopards turning maneaters.

I was talking about this bodhi.
Here is a snap of the last maneater Singh shot near Dehradun. Took almost a year to get her.
She was a young female in the prime of youth and with no injuries. She had killed 3 kids and mauled many adults. Was finally shot in December a couple of years ago. The fact that there were no further leopard attacks thereafter proves that she was the killer, and the right animal had been shot.

Prashantji,

Fully agreed. I thought of the first part. You are right. Age has become much lesser a factor.

Regards
Bodhisattwa

PS: THanks for picking up the right name to call me "Bodhi". Thats what all my friends call me. I was wondering that no one here picked up the real short form.

[prashantsingh]

Bodhi,
If the big cat is old or injured (as Corbett mentioned) . It is forced to hunt humans simply because it does not have the ability to hunt it's natural prey which is swifter , faster and more alert than us.

The problem for the hunter today is that these maneaters will not eat humans ONLY. There may be periods when there are no human kills for a long time and then you suddenly have a spurt in human killings. The reason for this is that these maneater now have a Mixed Diet.
As in case of this female leopard. She was operating for more than a year. Had killed 3 children.
She surely could not have survived a year with only 3 human kills (to eat). She had a mixed diet where she would hunt her natural prey as well. Being young and without any physical defect she was capable of hunting other wild animals as well.At times she must have killed and eaten anything from a kakar (barking deer) to a red jungle fowl. Rest of the times she must have lifted village goats and dogs and only when hunger had got the better of her would she have been forced to kill and eat humans (children).
This is the sad part. Loss of habitat and increase human population is forcing these animals to turn maneaters.

Coming back to the maneater of Devprayag. The leopard has now recovered from his injuries. He might have turned back to his natural prey.There are a number of Ghoral , barking deer and wild boar in the area.The fear of man has entered his brain. He has been trapped once in the cage and fired upon another time. My assumption is that only when he is really desperate for a meal will he attack a human again. That's the time when we will be called.
Inspite of all our efforts we have missed him in the first round.

[joydeepm]

Exactly .

The same phenomena can be seen in th Sunderbans in west bengal . Most tigers there - almost all - shall take men , if the chance presents itself . otherwise its wild boars , occassional deer or most interestingly , even fish . I once spent a night in a mid sized steamer which entered one of the small streams in between 2 islands and dopped anchor as water level dropped . There were 12 people in it and it had strong searchlights . In spite of that it was a most chilling experience . There are crocs , salamanders , crabs which make eerie noises slithering along the mud and along with all those the very thought of hungry tigers who relish a human diet turns even the most resolute of us into nervous wrecks .

People who say that man eaters should be tranquilized and put int a zoo may not have seen a half eaten human carcass in real life and heard the heart rending cries of close relatives of the dead or felt the fear that a man eater strikes into the heart of the population where it operates . In Sunderbans , I have seen villages in Sunderbans where 60 % of the women are widows - Their men - eaten by man eaters . . I salute people like Mr.Singh who have the courage , skill and the will to put an end to this menace and of course you Prashant for joining the quest . Hunting down a man eating leopard or tiger o foot in Indian forests is far more dangerous and difficult than organised touristy hunts in Africa .

The conflict between man and beast Is sad but not entirely unavoidable in our country with a polulation still growing . In this struggle - predators shall lose the war unless the govt passes a strong law against further encroachment . Emotions run high and the demand on the local admin becomes so strong that the admin finally has to bend and agree to have the beast shot - and rightly so . Being human - we must agree that human lives are more important .

Best

[bodhijobs]

Exactly .

The same phenomena can be seen in th Sunderbans in west bengal . Most tigers there - almost all - shall take men , if the chance presents itself . otherwise its wild boars , occassional deer or most interestingly , even fish . I once spent a night in a mid sized steamer which entered one of the small streams in between 2 islands and dopped anchor as water level dropped . There were 12 people in it and it had strong searchlights . In spite of that it was a most chilling experience . There are crocs , salamanders , crabs which make eerie noises slithering along the mud and along with all those the very thought of hungry tigers who relish a human diet turns even the most resolute of us into nervous wrecks .

People who say that man eaters should be tranquilized and put int a zoo may not have seen a half eaten human carcass in real life and heard the heart rending cries of close relatives of the dead or felt the fear that a man eater strikes into the heart of the population where it operates . In Sunderbans , I have seen villages in Sunderbans where 60 % of the women are widows - Their men - eaten by man eaters . . I salute people like Mr.Singh who have the courage , skill and the will to put an end to this menace and of course you Prashant for joining the quest . Hunting down a man eating leopard or tiger o foot in Indian forests is far more dangerous and difficult than organised touristy hunts in Africa .

The conflict between man and beast Is sad but not entirely unavoidable in our country with a polulation still growing . In this struggle - predators shall lose the war unless the govt passes a strong law against further encroachment . Emotions run high and the demand on the local admin becomes so strong that the admin finally has to bend and agree to have the beast shot - and rightly so . Being human - we must agree that human lives are more important .

Best

Very well said. The topic of Sunderbans is bound to start a controversy always. One side, we do have a concern that only 1411 tigers are left and we need to save the Royals but on the other side, ask a person in Sunderbans whose livelihood is getting wood or honey from the forest. He gives a **** whether there are 1411 left or 11 left. For him, its a beast, which stops them from earning their daily breads. Nothing else or nothing more than that.

Regards
BDG

[prashantsingh]

I beg to differ here.
In case of Sundarbans the man animal conflict is somewhat different.
You have the honey collectors (who face the maximum risk) going deep inside the tiger territory and then getting killed or attacked.The benefit of doubt goes to the tiger.

Here (Garhwal) you have a village which has existed for very many years where a leopard has moved in and has started to kill humans......
though we can always say that the leopard moved in only because we (humans) had destroyed his habitat (road construction) in the first place.

But you are right joydeep "Being human- we must agree that human lives are more important."

[bodhijobs]

I beg to differ here.
In case of Sundarbans the man animal conflict is somewhat different.
You have the honey collectors (who face the maximum risk) going deep inside the tiger territory and then getting killed or attacked.The benefit of doubt goes to the tiger.

Here (Garhwal) you have a village which has existed for very many years where a leopard has moved in and has started to kill humans......
though we can always say that the leopard moved in only because we (humans) had destroyed his habitat (road construction) in the first place.

But you are right joydeep "Being human- we must agree that human lives are more important."

Not benefit of doubt, but I believe the tiger is not at fault since he/she is probably scared or irritated by the intrusion of a two legged species in his territory however the concern is that what will the person do. He definitely cant sit at home being scared. Its high time that the authorities do take a look at this serious issue.

BDG

[Nitro Express]

Prashant - I have been following your posts since day one.The decision of hunting down the leopard is absolutely rational.Remember,till the leopard in question is not captured or neutralised, many more leopards in the area will be killed by the locals under the pretext that it was the man eating leopard.

BDG - I fully agree with Joydeepm that "Being human - we must agree that human lives are more important".

The basic rule of any conservation plan or action is that - Human life is to be secured no mater what, specially in a Man Animal Conflict situation.Without humans, Flora & Fauna cannot be preserved for the future generation to enjoy.

It is agreed that a few amongst us have intruded upon areas which were never ours and created this situation.At the same time it is us who through our knowledge and sacrifice shall ensure preservation of the same.

Nitro Express

[joydeepm]

Dear Prashant ,

the conflict is not much different in Sunderbans . There are only two things the villagers live off - honey and wood . To collect both - one has to venture out in the forest - just like our hills . In Sunderbans - tigers have walked into villages bordering the jungle , dug thru mud walls or jumped on thatched roofs and dug a hole thru them , entered the hut and walked away with a human after breaking down the door . There are many such reported cases .

Paucity of natural prey and possibly saline water - have made the tigers there unnaturally aggressive and they actually FAVOUR a human diet - when available . Cases have also been reported where the tiger has swum out to the middle of the stream and taken a man from boats anchored down for the night . These are not cases where men have intruded into their territory .

An Sudhanyakhali , there is a place where almost from the river a fenced corridor leads to a watchtower - from where you can see fauna . Even the guards standing at the entrance have been attacked and eaten - the tiger went into the river and walked straight up to the corridor gate at dusk .

Its truly scary .

best

Joydeep

[prashantsingh]

That's very interesting Joydeep.
Could it also be due to an increase in number of tigers within the Sundarbans?

[shooter]

possibly saline water - have made the tigers there unnaturally aggressive

Salt leading to aggression and maneaters having higher sodium in blood have been laid to rest long before brihacharanji was 10 (forgive the pun).

Firstly swiming in salt water doesnt increase sodium. Even ingesting salt water causes vomiting/dehydration rather than increased sodium.

Secondly high sodium causes hypertension, not aggression. Now, anger (?aggression) may lead to hypertension but not the other way around.

[joydeepm]

Shooter

In theory , you are right and in theory I fully agree with you . The natives of the area still believe otherwise . Science can be funny . For ages now , it has changed its view on cooking medium every year . Sometimes mustard oil is good for you - yet another time - it is poison . Same goes for white oil and desi ghee .

Prashant

Now that you say it - I need to check up on the stats on the tiger population there and how it has moved in the last 40-50 years .

In the mid 1980's, for almost 2 years - I used to go to the place once ot twice a month, armed with a camera . Used to know some forest guys - so tagged along with them in their steamer - hoping to catch a view of the elusive beast . The terrain is surreal . There are places which become submerged in high tide . Numerous islands are there - some small - some large . Within the islands there is a highest point where most fauna recede during high tide . The banks are mudddy and slippery - with the breathing roots of the mangrove trees sticking out of the ground . If you trip and fall on them - you shall be impaled and die a very painful death or in the best case - get severely injured . While you are busy trying to pull your foot out of the mud and taking care not to impale yourself on the roots - the tiger often takes its chance .

Deer population is very thin and only wild boars still roam in some numbers . No other natural prey is found . In this inhospitable terrain the tiger rules and it is in this terrain that the locals must intrude to collect honey and wood . Their villages are also around this place .

Sure shot recipe for disaster wont you say ? The most interesting thing is that the tigers here are expert swimmers and have adapted themselves very well to even catch fish .

BTW - any latest info on the Devprayag leopard ?

Best

Joydeep

[timmy]

Science can be funny . For ages now , it has changed its view on cooking medium every year . Sometimes mustard oil is good for you - yet another time - it is poison . Same goes for white oil and desi ghee .

joydeepm: This is often the public's view of scientific work. However, like many things in life, the situation is often not quite that simple. Life is a very complex thing, and not easily reduced to being described in several sentences.

Problems often arise when a group of researchers conduct an experiment where they are able to show that, for example, ingestion of so much of substance x results in higher levels of y and z in the bloodstream. It is commonly accepted that higher levels of y and z are not optimal, so some newspaper or website takes this information and blares a headline: "Science proves that too much x is bad for you." Sometime later, another group of scientists are working on another project, which concerns x. They conduct experiments showing that increased levels of x in the bloodstream are conducive to higher levels of a and b. Higher levels of a and b are generally thought to be healthy, so some newspaper or website takes this information to blare in loud headlines, "Science now says that more x is good for you!" Everyone reading that paper or web page shakes there heads and wonders how science can be so silly.

However, the problem is seldom the science, particularly if the experiments have been conducted under rigorous conditions. The problem lies with laymen interpreting the information in a way the data do not warrant for some sort of sensational news headline. Such interpretations are bound to be funny.

The behavioral properties of animals and humans is still not completely understood.

I would point out that polar bears are well known for stalking and hunting humans. To these creatures, we are nothing more than another morsel which may or may not cause indigestion. That big cats would also do this, even ones that have had some degree of exposure to humans, isn't surprising to me. Big cats have been well hones by millions of years of evolution to gobble up other critters to survive. Critters that are easy to hunt are bound to be more popular menu items, and those that involve some degree of risk in their minds, or perhaps don't smell so nice, are passed over for something more attractive.

[winnie_the_pooh]

Timmy,

Saw a documentary some time back about the sundebans tigers and their attacks on humans.From what I remember

1.There are accounts from Mughal period of entire villages deserting areas because of depredations by Tigers.So tigers killing and eating humans was something very normal.It was not an aberration.

(Accounts from that period talk of certain areas being infested with tigers making journey through them a risky affair.certain roads and particularly pilgrimage routes were known for this.This was not in the documentary but what I gathered from reading current accounts)

2.With the introduction of modern firearms hunting of tigers became easier and over time,tigers on the sub continent learnt to fear humans loosing this fear only when driven to hunt humans for food when they could not hunt anything else.Tigers were never hunted in the Sunderbans and so have no such fear of humans.

3.Tigers in the Sunderbans have probably got used to eating human flesh from eating corpses washed up on the delta of people killed in typhoons and floods in Bangladesh and West Bengal.