On the morning of 18th July this year, Rushi Kishan Devtale (60), a resident of Bamangaon in Maharashtra went about his daily chores, taking the livestock out to graze. Later that day, he was mauled by a tiger that apparently attacked him out of instinct, during a hunt. This unfortunate encounter adds to the increasing number of human deaths due to tiger attacks in Chandrapur district in Maharashtra in the recent past.
An adult tiger claims approximately 20-40 square kilometres of area as territory. With 97 tigers (according to the 2022 census) pervading for territory over 622.87 square kilometres, the spillover effect is causing increased interfacing between animals and humans living in proximity to the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR). Similar incidents are being reported from Lakhimpur and Pilibhit districts in Uttar Pradesh where tigers often take refuge in sugarcane fields, outside the forest. A total of nine deaths have been reported from adjoining areas of the Pilibhit and Dudhwa Tiger Reserves since 31st March this year, according to officials. With increasing density of the population of tigers in optimally utilised protected forests, erratic movements and sudden encounters are on the rise. The silver lining? None of the tigers are interested in eating their human prey.