22/04/2014
Human-tiger conflict creating more man-eaters ....
Two tigers in India turned man-eaters in the recent past while a third killed a human but didn't eat it. Experts warn that such attacks will continue as the heavily-muscled, endangered predator jostles for space with humans.
India, home to an estimated 1,700 tigers, is seeing attacks by the majestic big cats whose riveting yellowish-amber gaze is enough to strike fear.
"Full blown cases of man-eating are few and largely occur where tiger populations are thriving. Human-tiger conflict is a price paid for successful tiger conservation," India's leading tiger expert Ullas Karanth told IANS.
M.K. Ranjitsinh, chairman of board of trustees of Wildlife Trust of India, told IANS: "There were more man-eaters in the past."
"Each case of a man-eating tiger has to be dealt with differently...In fact, the trait gets passed on from mother to cubs," said Ranjitsinh, an expert on Indian wildlife and natural history who has authored many books, including "Beyond the Tiger: Portraits of Asian Wildlife".
What about capturing man-eating tigers and keeping them in captivity?
"A man-eater has to be destroyed. What's the use of keeping it in captivity. You can't release it," he said.
"A tiger which is a confirmed man-eater will do it again," he added, stressing: "A man-killer is not a man-eater."
Tigers are predatory, he said, so "man-eating tigers will be there from time to time. You have to contend with that."
http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/human-tiger-conflict-creating-more-man-eaters-114011900199_1.html