Indian rangers hunt ‘man-eating’ tiger

MUMBAI: Armed park rangers are desperately trying to kill or capture a ‘man-eating’ tiger blamed for killing four people in central India, a forestry official said.

The two-year-old female tiger was initially captured in July after killing two villagers and injuring four others in Brahmapuri in Maharashtra state.

It was later released into the nearby Bor Wildlife Sanctuary but went on to attack and kill another two people.

Rishikesh Ranjan, field director of Pench Tiger Reserve, close to Bor, told AFP that a local court had approved a shoot-to-kill order against the tigress, named ‘Kala’.

“She has killed four people and injured four others. We can shoot her but we would prefer to capture and tranquillise her,” he said.

Ranjan said officials were tracking the tiger using GPS and wanted to catch her as soon as possible because she is “spreading panic amongst villagers”.

“In her last killing she consumed a major chunk of the victim’s body,” he said.

Tigers do not generally attack humans, but some experts believe they can get a taste for human flesh once they have attacked once. — AFP