Tigress Chews Priest to Death in India, Prompts Setting up of Sensor Cameras, Cage to Catch It

On June 18, a temple priest was killed by a man-eating tigress after it chewed off most of the flesh from his body. The animal had earlier killed a farmer working in his field on May 21, and two days later killed a cyclist.

After a slew of incidents involving a man-eating tigress attacking and killing people in India's Uttar Pradesh state triggered fear among villagers, forest officials set up motion-sensing cameras, bait, and cages near a temple where a priest was mauled to death last week.

Over the last two years, the tigress has reportedly devoured 18 humans in the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR), six of them since October 2021.

The villagers, living on the outskirts of the forest and Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, claim that they are living in fear "not knowing when the tigress will strike again".

While forest officials are combing the area with two elephants to spot the tigress, Sanjay Pathak, the field director of DTR, told Indian news agency IANS that the situation remains serious in the area and they are trying to divert the big cat to its prey base.

Pathak has assured them that the authorities are trying to ensure that there are no further casualties.

"There is outrage amongst the villagers after last incident, but we are keeping the situation under control. We are trying to cage the animal first and may seek permission to tranquilize it if it strays near the village," Pathak said.

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