The ageing tiger, captured by Karnataka Forest Department last Wednesday, may have had no option but to go for human kill after it was driven out of the forest by a robust rival and was too weak to prey. The tiger killed three humans before it was tranquilised and captured.
In the past, there have been examples of tiger killing humans in this region as the area has a high tiger population. According to a study conducted by Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) scientists led by Ullas Karanth, it appears that this tiger was evicted from his range in Bandipur Tiger Reserve after May 2013. The 12-year-old decrepit tiger had broken canines and other injuries. Forced to the edges of the forest, he was possibly compelled to kill livestock and attacked three humans.
As a part of a nearly two-decade-old study by WCS on dynamics of the meta-population of tigers in Karnataka, a photographic database of tigers is maintained. This allows rapid retrieval and comparison of individual tiger images. This captured tiger has been identified as male tiger BPT-117. This tiger was first camera trapped at Dodda Dasana Katte Road, Moleyur range, on March 30, 2004. From its size it was assessed to be about 3-year-old then. Subsequently, the tiger was snapped ten times. last photographic capture was on May 11, 2013 on Sollegundi Road, Gundre Range.
Commenting on the capture Karanth said, “It is debatable whether the attempts to live-capture the animal rather than shoot it was justified after the second proven case of human predation in Bandipur.” Dozens of tigers, and possibly even a larger number of leopards reach this stage in life in Karnataka every year and sometimes get into conflict situations, he added. According to him, it may not be a practical long term option to live-capture all of them or to house them in zoos beyond their maximum lifespan in the wild.
Furthermore, the delay in addressing the threat of such man-eater cases can generate anger among locals. This may undermine public support required for conservation of tigers as a species. Karanth, however, stressed that such cases of man-eating or predation on humans are very rare. Hence the portrayal of all tigers as being aggressive to humans in general is not correct. “Most tiger attacks occur when cornered big cats are mobbed by uncontrollable crowds. This cannot be considered man-eating in any sense of the term,” he said.