Deadly trail

Increased instances of humans being killed, and in many instances eaten, by tigers highlights a shift in the wild cats' behaviour due to ecological changes

- HIMANSHU NITNAWARE AND RAJAT GHAI DELHI

FOR THE communities in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district, May 27 was a dark day. In the morning, came news of 45-year-old Sanjeevani Maikalwar, a resident of Chiroli village in Mul taluka, being killed by a tiger. According to media reports, Maikalwar had gone with her husband and two relatives to collect firewood. They had just reached the forest area near Bhagwanpur village, close to the buffer zone of the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, when a tiger hiding in the undergrowth pounced on Maikalwar and dragged her away. She died before her family could reach her.

A while later, 52-year-old Suresh Sopankar from Kantapeth village in the taluka took his goats to the same forest area for grazing. When he did not return, his family and forest officials went looking for him. They found Sopankar's remains, mutilated by a tiger. Media reports said both attacks were a mere 500 metres apart, and quoted forest officials suggesting a single tiger was responsible for them.

The two attacks brought the total number of human deaths by tiger in Chandrapur to 22 since the start of 2025. Eleven attacks occurred in a span of 17 days in May.

Chandrapur is not the only district to report alarming numbers of tiger attacks. In Uttar Pradesh, the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve area recorded five human deaths due to tiger attacks in recent weeks, with the first on May 13. In Uttarakhand, home to the Jim Corbett National Park and Rajaji Tiger Reserve, nine people have lost their lives to tiger attacks. The Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan has seen three tiger attacks so far, including of a forest range officer and a forest guard. Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu reported one death each.