Man-eating Tigers Should Be Captured Not Shot
Surely capturing a tiger that has killed a person or persons is the more humane and reasonable way to deal with this sort of problem. If the tiger kills a person it is probable that the tiger is old or sick or for whatever reason is unable to kill its usual prey.
The tiger does not naturally hunt people. So, for example, perhaps a tiger was injured by a person and perhaps people have encroached on a tiger's habitat squeezing the tiger out. There may have been a case of mismanagement of the tiger.
For example, a tiger may have been relocated from one reserve to another and he or she finds it difficult to create his own home range. He is forced out onto the borders of a reserve where he encounters people. There are numerous possible scenarios for a tiger to encounter a person under which the tiger is not at fault. As the tiger is not at fault why should he be shot?
The problem with man–eating tigers is that they become habituated to attacking people, apparently. They lose their fear of man (if they have had a fear of people in the first place, which I doubt).
If they do lose this fear and desire to attack a person deliberately, which would be unnatural then clearly urgent steps have to be taken to protect people.
Apparently, most attacks by tigers on people are chance encounters that have gone wrong. Victims of these attacks are rarely dragged away as if they are prey and eaten.
We are told, that in India, 17 people were killed by tigers in 4 weeks up until the end of January 2014. This happened in four Indian states: Uttar Pradesh, Kamataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. People become fearful and angry and threaten to take the law into their own hands. Sometimes the authorities shut down schools because of a tiger attack and a man-eating tiger in the district can affect work schedules; some people are not able to go to work because of a tiger curfew.
All these factors put pressure on the authorities to give a declaration that a tiger is a man-eater and that it can be shot.
There have been some well-documented cases of man eating leopards as well. There were some quite famous cats who was shot by some famous white hunters in times gone by. But times have changed. The tiger population has plummeted. The tiger is seriously endangered and there is little likelihood as far as I am concerned that the tiger can be saved from extinction in the wild.
Under these circumstances, and under the circumstances of an ever decreasing habitat for the Bengal tiger in India, surely it is right and proper that any tiger branded (sometimes unfairly and incorrectly) a “man-eater" should be captured and perhaps put into a zoo. I hate zoos but I hate the killing of tigers more.
The tiger does not naturally hunt people. So, for example, perhaps a tiger was injured by a person and perhaps people have encroached on a tiger's habitat squeezing the tiger out. There may have been a case of mismanagement of the tiger.
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| This looks ridiculous to me. Tiger forced to be in close proximity to people working in Ranthambhore National Park. |
For example, a tiger may have been relocated from one reserve to another and he or she finds it difficult to create his own home range. He is forced out onto the borders of a reserve where he encounters people. There are numerous possible scenarios for a tiger to encounter a person under which the tiger is not at fault. As the tiger is not at fault why should he be shot?
The problem with man–eating tigers is that they become habituated to attacking people, apparently. They lose their fear of man (if they have had a fear of people in the first place, which I doubt).
If they do lose this fear and desire to attack a person deliberately, which would be unnatural then clearly urgent steps have to be taken to protect people.
Apparently, most attacks by tigers on people are chance encounters that have gone wrong. Victims of these attacks are rarely dragged away as if they are prey and eaten.
We are told, that in India, 17 people were killed by tigers in 4 weeks up until the end of January 2014. This happened in four Indian states: Uttar Pradesh, Kamataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. People become fearful and angry and threaten to take the law into their own hands. Sometimes the authorities shut down schools because of a tiger attack and a man-eating tiger in the district can affect work schedules; some people are not able to go to work because of a tiger curfew.
All these factors put pressure on the authorities to give a declaration that a tiger is a man-eater and that it can be shot.
There have been some well-documented cases of man eating leopards as well. There were some quite famous cats who was shot by some famous white hunters in times gone by. But times have changed. The tiger population has plummeted. The tiger is seriously endangered and there is little likelihood as far as I am concerned that the tiger can be saved from extinction in the wild.
Under these circumstances, and under the circumstances of an ever decreasing habitat for the Bengal tiger in India, surely it is right and proper that any tiger branded (sometimes unfairly and incorrectly) a “man-eater" should be captured and perhaps put into a zoo. I hate zoos but I hate the killing of tigers more.
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