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Tiger attacks are an extreme form of
human–wildlife conflict Human–wildlife conflict (HWC) refers to the negative interactions between human and wild animals, with undesirable consequences both for people and their resources, on the one hand, and wildlife and their habitats on the other ( IUCN 2020). H ...
which occur for various reasons and have claimed more human lives than attacks by any of the other
big cat The term "big cat" is typically used to refer to any of the five living members of the genus ''Panthera'', namely the tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard, and snow leopard. Despite enormous differences in size, various cat species are quite similar ...
s. The most comprehensive study of deaths due to
tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living Felidae, cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily pr ...
attacks estimates that at least 373,000 people died due to tiger attacks between 1800 and 2009 averaging about 1800 kills per year, the majority of these attacks occurring in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
,
Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...
and
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...
.


Reasons for attacking

If a human comes too close and surprises a sleeping or feeding tiger, or a tigress with her cubs, the tiger will attack and injure or kill. Tigers also attack humans in a case of "mistaken identity" (for example, if a human is crouching while collecting firewood, or cutting grass) and sometimes when a tourist gets too close. Some also recommend not riding a bicycle, or running in a region where tigers live, in order to not provoke their chase. Peter Byrne wrote about an Indian postman who was working on foot for many years without any problems with resident tigers, but was chased by a tiger soon after he started riding a bicycle for his work. While on average there are approximately 85 or fewer people killed and injured by tigers each year, India has seen sharper increases in tiger attacks, as was the case in 2014 and 2015 due to urban expansion into the tiger's natural habitat. Many human fatalities and injuries are due to incidents at zoos, or to the man-eating tigers in India. In some cases, tigers will change their natural diet to become
man-eater A man-eater is an animal that preys on humans as a pattern of hunting behavior. This does not include the scavenging of corpses, a single attack born of opportunity or desperate hunger, or the incidental eating of a human that the animal has kil ...
s. This is usually due to a tiger being incapacitated by a gunshot wound or
porcupine Porcupines are large rodents with coats of sharp spines, or quills, that protect them against predation. The term covers two families of animals: the Old World porcupines of family Hystricidae, and the New World porcupines of family, Erethiz ...
quills, or some other factors, such as health issues and disabilities. In such cases, the animal's inability to take traditional prey forces it to stalk humans, which are less appetizing, but much easier to chase, overpower and kill; this was the case with the man-eating tigress of Champawat, which was believed to have begun eating villagers at least partially in response to crippling tooth injuries. As tigers in Asia often live in close proximity to humans, tigers have killed more people than any other big cat. Between 1876 and 1912, tigers killed 33,247 people in
British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
. Man-eaters have been a recurrent problem in India, especially in
Kumaon Kumaon or Kumaun may refer to: * Kumaon division, a region in Uttarakhand, India * Kumaon Kingdom, a former country in Uttarakhand, India * Kumaon, Iran, a village in Isfahan Province, Iran * , a ship of the Royal Indian Navy during WWII See also ...
,
Garhwal Garhwal may refer to the following topics associated with Uttarakhand, India: Places *Garhwal Himalaya, a sub-range of the Himalayas *Garhwal Kingdom, a former kingdom *Garhwal District (British Garhwal), a former district of British India *Garh ...
and the
Sundarbans Sundarbans (pronounced ) is a mangrove area in the delta formed by the confluence of the Padma, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers in the Bay of Bengal. It spans the area from the Baleswar River in Bangladesh's division of Khulna to the Hooghly R ...
mangrove swamps of
Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
. There, some healthy tigers have been known to hunt humans. However, there have been mentions of man-eaters in old Indian literature so it appears that after the British occupied India, built roads into forests and brought the tradition of ''shikar,'' man-eaters became a nightmare come alive. Even though tigers usually avoid
elephants Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...
, they have been known to jump on an elephant's back and severely injure the
mahout A mahout is an elephant rider, trainer, or keeper. Mahouts were used since antiquity for both civilian and military use. Traditionally, mahouts came from ethnic groups with generations of elephant keeping experience, with a mahout retaining h ...
riding on the elephant's back. Kesri Singh mentioned a case when a fatally wounded tiger attacked and killed the hunter who wounded it while the hunter was on the back of an elephant. Most man-eating tigers are eventually captured, shot or poisoned. During war, tigers may acquire a taste for human flesh from the consumption of corpses which have lain unburied, and go on to attack soldiers; this happened during the
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...
and
Second World The Second World is a term originating during the Cold War for the industrial socialist states that were under the influence of the Soviet Union. In the first two decades following World War II, 19 communist states emerged; all of these were at ...
Wars. Tigers will stalk groups of people bending down while working in a field or cutting grass, but will lose interest as soon as the people stand upright. Consequently, it has been hypothesized that some attacks are a simple case of mistaken identity. Tigers typically surprise victims from the side or from behind: either approaching upwind or lying in wait downwind. Tigers rarely press an attack if they are seen before their ambush is mounted. Kenneth Anderson once commented on man-eating tigers, Tigers are sometimes intimidated from attacking humans, especially if they are unfamiliar with people. Tigers, even established man-eating tigers will seldom enter human settlements, usually sticking to village outskirts. Nevertheless, attacks in human villages do occur. Most tigers will only attack a human if they cannot physically satisfy their needs otherwise. Tigers are typically wary of humans and usually show no preference for human meat. Although humans are relatively easy prey, they are not a desired source of food. Thus, most man-eating tigers are old, infirm, or have missing teeth, and choose human victims out of desperation. In one case, a post-mortem examination of a killed tigress revealed two broken
canine teeth In mammalian oral anatomy, the canine teeth, also called cuspids, dog teeth, or (in the context of the upper jaw) fangs, eye teeth, vampire teeth, or vampire fangs, are the relatively long, pointed teeth. They can appear more flattened howeve ...
, four missing
incisors Incisors (from Latin ''incidere'', "to cut") are the front teeth present in most mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and on the mandible below. Humans have a total of eight (two on each side, top and bottom). Opossums have 18, wher ...
and a loose upper molar, handicaps which would make capturing stronger prey extremely difficult. Only upon reaching this stage did she attack a workman. In some cases, rather than being predatory, tiger attacks on humans seem to be territorial in nature. In at least one case, a tigress with cubs killed eight people entering her territory without consuming them at all.


Tiger attacks in the Sundarbans

The Bengal tigers of the
Sundarbans Sundarbans (pronounced ) is a mangrove area in the delta formed by the confluence of the Padma, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers in the Bay of Bengal. It spans the area from the Baleswar River in Bangladesh's division of Khulna to the Hooghly R ...
(translation: 'beautiful forest'), bordering India and Bangladesh, used to regularly kill fifty or sixty people a year. This was strange given that the tigers were usually in prime condition and had adequate prey available. Approximately 100 tigers live in this region, possibly the largest single population anywhere in the world. The kill rate has dropped significantly due to better management techniques and now only about three people lose their lives each year . Despite the notoriety associated with this area, humans are only a supplement to the tigers' diet; they do not provide a primary food source.


Tigers and locations known for attacks


The Champawat Tiger

The
Champawat Tiger The Champawat Tiger was a Bengal Tigress responsible for an estimated 436 deaths in Nepal and the Kumaon division of India, during the last years of the 19th century and the first years of the 20th century. Her attacks have been listed in the ...
was a man-eating tigress which purportedly killed some 200 men and women before being driven out of
Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...
. She moved to
Champawat district Champawat district is a district of Uttarakhand state in northern India. The town of Champawat is the administrative headquarters. The district of Champawat constituted in the year 1997. The district is divided into five tehsils: Barakot, Lohag ...
in the state of
Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...
in
North India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Cen ...
, and continued to kill, bringing her total human kills up to 436. She was finally tracked down and killed in 1907. She was known to enter villages, even during daylight, roaring and causing people to flee in panic to their huts. The Champawat Tiger was found and killed by
Jim Corbett Edward James Corbett (25 July 1875 – 19 April 1955) was a British hunter, tracker, naturalist, and author who hunted a number of man-eating tigers and leopards in the Indian subcontinent. He held the rank of colonel in the British Indian ...
after he followed the trail of blood the tigress left behind after killing her last victim, a 16-year-old girl. Later examination of the tigress showed the upper and lower canine teeth on the right side of her mouth were broken, the upper one in half, the lower one right down to the bone. This permanent injury, Corbett claimed, "had prevented her from killing her natural prey, and had been the cause of her becoming a man-eater."


The Tiger of Segur

The
Tiger of Segur Kenneth Douglas Stewart Anderson (8 March 1910 – 30 August 1974) was an Indian writer and hunter who wrote books about his adventures in the jungles of South India. Biography Kenneth Anderson was born in Bolarum, Secunderabad and came fr ...
was a young
man-eating A man-eater is an animal that preys on humans as a pattern of hunting behavior. This does not include the scavenging of corpses, a single attack born of opportunity or desperate hunger, or the incidental eating of a human that the animal has kil ...
male
Bengal tiger The Bengal tiger is a population of the '' Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies. It ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is considered to belong to the world's charismatic megafauna. The tiger is estimated to have been present i ...
who killed five people in the
Nilgiri Hills The Nilgiri Mountains form part of the Western Ghats in northwestern Tamil Nadu, Southern Karnataka, and eastern Kerala in India. They are located at the trijunction of three states and connect the Western Ghats with the Eastern Ghats. At le ...
of
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
state in
South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union terr ...
. Though originating in the District of
Malabar District Malabar District, also known as Malayalam District, was an administrative district on the southwestern Malabar Coast of Bombay Presidency (1792-1800) and Madras Presidency (1800-1947) in British India, and independent India's Madras State (19 ...
and
Wayanad District Wayanad () is a district in the north-east of Indian state Kerala with administrative headquarters at the municipality of Kalpetta. It is the only plateau in Kerala. The Wayanad Plateau forms a continuation of the Mysore Plateau, the southern ...
below the south-western face of the Blue Mountains, the tiger later shifted its hunting grounds to Gudalur and between the
Sigur Plateau Sigur Plateau (Segur Plateau) is a plateau in the north and east of Nilgiri District in the Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu, South India. It covers the portion of the Moyar River drainage basin on the northern slopes of the Nilgiri Hills, south of ...
and Anaikatty in
Coimbatore district Coimbatore district is one of the 38 districts in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. Coimbatore is the administrative headquarters of the district. It is one of the most industrialized districts and a major textile, industrial, commercial, edu ...
. It was killed by Kenneth Anderson on the banks of the Segur River, . Anderson later wrote that the tiger had a disability preventing it from hunting its natural prey.


Tigers of Chowgarh

The
Tigers of Chowgarh The Tigers of Chowgarh were a pair of man-eating Bengal tigers, consisting of an old tigress and her sub-adult cub, which for over a five-year period killed a reported 64 people in eastern Kumaon over an area spanning . The tigress was attacking h ...
were a pair of man-eating Bengal tigers, consisting of an old tigress and her sub-adult cub, which for over a five-year period killed a reported 64 people in eastern
Kumaon Division Kumaon (; Kumaoni: ''Kumāū''; ; historically romanized as KemāonJames Prinsep (Editor)John McClelland ) is a revenue and administrative division in the Indian State of Uttarakhand. It spans over the eastern half of the state and is bounde ...
of
Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...
in
Northern India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...
over an area spanning . The figures however are uncertain, as the natives of the areas the tigers frequented claimed double that number, and they do not take into account victims who survived direct attacks but died subsequently. Both tigers were killed by Jim Corbett.


Thak man-eater

The
Thak man-eater The Thak man-eater was a female Bengal tiger who killed and ate four human victims (two women, two men) between September and November 1938. She was operating in Kumaon, at the Nepalese border, between the villages Thak, Chuka, Kot Kindri and S ...
was a tigress from Eastern
Kumaon division Kumaon (; Kumaoni: ''Kumāū''; ; historically romanized as KemāonJames Prinsep (Editor)John McClelland ) is a revenue and administrative division in the Indian State of Uttarakhand. It spans over the eastern half of the state and is bounde ...
, who killed only four human victims, but was the last hunt of the hunter, conservationist and author
Jim Corbett Edward James Corbett (25 July 1875 – 19 April 1955) was a British hunter, tracker, naturalist, and author who hunted a number of man-eating tigers and leopards in the Indian subcontinent. He held the rank of colonel in the British Indian ...
. Corbett called her up and killed her during late twilight, after he lost all other means to track her down. Postmortem revealed that this tigress had two old gunshot wounds, one of which had become septic. This, according to Corbett, forced her to turn from a normal predator hunting natural prey to a man-eater.


Tiger of Mundachipallam

The
Tiger of Mundachipallam Kenneth Douglas Stewart Anderson (8 March 1910 – 30 August 1974) was an Indian writer and hunter who wrote books about his adventures in the jungles of South India. Biography Kenneth Anderson was born in Bolarum, Secunderabad and came fr ...
was a male Bengal tiger, which in the 1950s killed seven people in the vicinity of the village of Pennagram, four miles (6 km) from the Hogenakkal Falls in Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu. Unlike the Segur man-eater, the Mundachipallam tiger had no known infirmities preventing it from hunting its natural prey. Its first three victims were killed in unprovoked attacks, while the subsequent victims were devoured. The Mundachipallam tiger was later killed by Kenneth Anderson.


Man-eater of Bhimashankar

A story was discovered by
Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...
-based author Sureshchandra Warghade when he ran into an old villager in the
Bhimashankar Bhimashankar Temple is a Jyotirlinga shrine located 50 km Khed taluka (alias Rajgurunagar), near Pune, in Maharashtra, India. It is located 127 km from Shivajinagar (in Pune) in the Ghat region of the Sahyadri Mountains. Bhīmāshan ...
forest which lies near Pune. The villager explained to the author how a man-eating tiger terrorized the entire Bhimashakar area during a span of two years in the 1940s. He was a police constable in that area and he had been responsible for dealing with the formalities surrounding the deaths (missing person reports and death certificates) and other jobs such as helping the hunting parties. During this time the tiger supposedly killed more than 100 people, but it was apparently very careful to avoid discovery; only 2 bodies were ever found. Several hunting parties were organized, but the only one to succeed was an
Ambegaon Ambegaon is a town in Ambegaon tehsil of Pune district in the Indian state of Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Mah ...
-based hunter named Ismail. During his first attempt, Ismail had a direct confrontation with the tiger and was almost killed. He later called Kenneth Anderson. They returned and killed the tiger. The tiger predominately killed the villagers who slept outside the huts. The authenticity of the story told by the villager was confirmed when Warghade examined official reports, including a certificate given by the British authorities for killing the man-eating tiger.


Tara of the Dudhwa National Park

While the Sundarbans are particularly well known for tiger attacks,
Dudhwa National Park The Dudhwa National Park is a national park in the Terai belt of marshy grasslands in northern Uttar Pradesh, India. It stretches over an area of , with a buffer zone of . It is part of the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in the Kheri and Lakhimpur distri ...
also had several man-eaters in the late 1970s. The first death was on 2 March 1978, closely followed by 3 further kills. The population demanded action from authorities. The locals wanted the man-eater shot or poisoned. The killings continued, each one making headlines. Officials soon started to believe that the likely culprit was a tigress called Tara. Conservationist Billy Arjan Singh had taken the British-born cat from Twycross Zoo and raised her in India, with the goal of releasing her back into the wild. His experiments had also been carried out on leopards with some success. Experts felt that Tara would not have the required skills and correct hunting techniques to survive in the wild and controversy surrounded the project. She also associated men with providing food and comfort, which increased the likelihood that she would approach villages. Officials later became convinced that Tara had taken to easier prey and become a man-eater. A total of 24 people were killed before the tigress was shot. Singh also joined the hunt with the intent of identifying the man-eater, but firm confirmation of the identity of the tiger was never found. The debate over the tiger's identity has continued in the years since the attacks. Singh's supporters continue to claim that the tiger was not Tara, and the conservationist has produced evidence to that effect. However, officials maintain that the tiger was definitely Tara. Other man-eaters from
Dudhwa National Park The Dudhwa National Park is a national park in the Terai belt of marshy grasslands in northern Uttar Pradesh, India. It stretches over an area of , with a buffer zone of . It is part of the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in the Kheri and Lakhimpur distri ...
have existed, but this tiger was potentially the first captive-bred tiger to be trained and released into the wild. This controversy cast doubt on the success of Singh's rewilding project. Problems at Dudhwa have been minor in the past few years. Occasional tiger attacks still occur, but these are no higher than at other wildlife reserves. On average, two villagers are attacked at Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve each year. These attacks generally occur during the monsoon season when the locals enter the reserve to collect grass.


Tigress of Moradabad

In February 2014, reports emerged that a tigress had killed 7 people near the
Jim Corbett National Park Jim Corbett National Park is a national park in India located in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand state. The first national park in India, it was established in 1936 during the British Raj and named ''Hailey National Park'' after William ...
. The tigress was later called the man-eater of Moradabad, because it was hunting in the
Bijnor Bijnor is a city and a municipal board in Bijnor district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, IndiaMoradabad Moradabad () is a city, commissionary and municipal corporation in Moradabad district of Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Moradabad is situated on the banks of the Ramganga river, at a distance of from the national capital, New Delhi and ...
region. The tigress could not be traced by about 50
camera trap A camera trap is a camera that is automatically triggered by a change in some activity in its vicinity, like presence of an animal or a human being. It is typically equipped with a motion sensor – usually a passive infrared (PIR) senso ...
s and an
unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controll ...
. In August 2014, it was reported that tigress had stopped killing humans. Its last victim was killed in February, with a total of 7 victims. The animal remained untraced.


Tigress of Yavatmal

Between 2016 and 2018, a tigress known as T-1 was said to have killed 13 people in Yavatmal district, in the western Indian state of Maharashtra. The tigress was shot dead after a major hunt in November 2018. The tiger was killed in self-defence, after charging those attempting to tranquillise her. The hunt for the tigress included more than 100 camera traps, bait in the form of horses and goats tied to trees, round-the-clock surveillance from treetop platforms and armed patrols. Drones and a hang glider were also used to try and locate T-1. Wildlife officials also brought in bottles of the perfume ''Obsession for Men'' by
Calvin Klein Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc., in 1968. In addition to clothing, he also has given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, an ...
, which contains a pheromone called
civetone Civetone is a macrocyclic ketone and the main odorous constituent of civet oil. It is a pheromone sourced from the African civet. It has a strong musky odor that becomes pleasant at extreme dilutions. Civetone is closely related to muscone, the p ...
, after an experiment in the US suggested that it could be used to attract
jaguars The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
.


Tigers of Bardia National Park, Nepal

In 2021, the four tigers killed ten people and injured several others in Bardia National Park of Nepal. Three of tigers were captured and transferred to rescue centers. One of the tigers escaped from its cage and is yet to be captured. The tigers were identified and captured from Gaidamachan on 4 April, from Khata on 18 March and from Geruwa on 17 March. The tigers were found with broken canine teeth, possibly due to fighting between two males. After the capture, one of the tiger escaped from the iron cage and went back to the forest in
Banke district Banke District ( ne, बाँके जिल्ला , a part of Lumbini Province, is one of the 77 districts of Nepal. The district, located in midwestern Nepal with Nepalganj as its district headquarters, covers an area of and had a popul ...
. Two were housed at the rescue facility in Bardia National Park in Thakurdwara and Rambapur. One was transferred to the
Central Zoo The Central Zoo is a zoo in Jawalakhel, Nepal. It is home to some 870 animals in 109 species, and is operated by the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC). Although it was originally a private zoo, it was opened to the public in 1956. D ...
in Jawalakhel, Kathmandu.


Measures to prevent tiger attacks

Various measures were taken to prevent and reduce the number of tiger attacks with limited success. For example, since tigers almost always attack from the rear, masks with human faces were worn on the back of the head by the villagers in 1986 in the Sundarbans, on the theory that tigers usually do not attack if seen by their prey. This had temporarily decreased the number of attacks, but only for a short while before the tigers figured out it was not the front of the human being so the villagers no longer wore them for protection. All other means to prevent tiger attacks, such as providing the tigers with more prey by releasing captive bred pigs to the reserve's buffer zones, or placing electrified human dummies to teach tigers to associate attacking people with electric shock, did not work as well and tiger attacks continue. Many measures were thus discontinued due to lack of success.


In captivity

Tiger attacks have also happened in zoos and as exotic pets. Attacks by captive tigers are not that rare. Between 1998 and 2001 there were seven fatal tiger attacks in the United States and at least 20 more attacks that required emergency medical care. *In 1985, a pair of Siberian tigers at the Bronx Zoo attacked and killed one of their keepers in an enclosure that was part of the Wild Asia exhibit. * In 2003, trainer and performer Roy Horn was attacked by a Siberian white tiger during a live stage performance, disabling Horn and prompting the permanent closure of the show. *In the first incident at the San Francisco Zoo, in 2006, a zookeeper was bitten on the arm during a public feeding. In the second incident in 2007, one person was killed and two others were injured before police officers intervened, shooting and killing Tatiana. *In 2007, a 32-year-old Canadian woman was killed when she was outside the cage petting a tiger, it apparently grabbed her leg and mauled her; causing her to bleed to death. *In 2005, a 17-year-old girl was killed by a captive Siberian tiger at the Lost Creek Animal Sanctuary in Kansas, while taking her high school graduation photo with the animal. *In 2009, at the
Calgary Zoo The Calgary Zoo is located in Bridgeland, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, just east of the city's downtown and adjacent to the Inglewood and East Village neighborhoods. It is accessible via Calgary's C-Train light rail system, by car via Memorial ...
, Vitali, a male Siberian tiger, injured a man trespassing in his enclosure. A handler was also killed by a white tiger in Zion Lion Park. *On 31 July 2012, Kushalappa Gowda (36), a zookeeper at
Pilikula Nisargadhama Pilikula Nisargadhama (or Nisarga Dhama) is a multi-purpose tourist attraction, at Vamanjoor, eastern part of Mangalore city in Karnataka, managed by the District Administration of Dakshina Kannada. It is a major tourist attraction of Mangalore ...
in
Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ke ...
, was killed by an ailing Tiger named Raja after he entered the squeezer cage in spite of warnings. Tiger died of heart attack in May 2015. *in July 2014, an 11-year-old boy was attacked by a tiger in a zoo from Paraná, Brazil. His arm was amputated as a result from his injuries. *In 2014, at the
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
zoo in India, a male white tiger attacked a 20-year-old mentally unstable man after he accidentally fell into its enclosure. The tiger grabbed the man by the neck and dragged him inside. *In 2015, a handler was killed at
Hamilton Zoo Hamilton Zoo ( mi, Rawhi Whakaaturanga o Kirikiriroa) is the main zoological garden of Hamilton, New Zealand. Covering , it is situated on Brymer Road in the Hamilton suburb of Rotokauri, on the outskirts of the metropolitan area towards the n ...
in
Hamilton, New Zealand Hamilton ( mi, Kirikiriroa) is an inland city in the North Island of New Zealand. Located on the banks of the Waikato River, it is the seat and most populous city of the Waikato region. With a territorial population of , it is the country's ...
. *In 2016, a 38-year-old woman was killed by Hati, a 13-year-old male tiger in an enclosure at the
Palm Beach Zoo The Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society is a non-profit zoological organization located at Dreher Park in West Palm Beach. The zoo houses hundreds of animals, many of them endangered, within 23-acres of lush tropical habitat. The Palm Beach Zoo & ...
. *In May 2017, zoo-keeper Rosa King was killed by a Malayan tiger named Cicip at
Hamerton Zoo Park Hamerton Zoo Park is situated in Hamerton, near Sawtry, Huntingdonshire, England. Development Planning permission for change of use from agricultural land to a zoo was granted in 1988, with the park being opened on 15 June 1990 by local MP, the ...
in Cambridgeshire, UK. A metal gate meant to separate the workers from the tiger was open when Rosa went to clean the enclosure, leaving her in the same space as the animal, where she was subsequently attacked. *In 2018, Michael B. Coleman, former mayor of Columbus, Ohio, was attacked by a 6-year-old female tiger in the
Columbus Zoo and Aquarium The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is a non-profit zoo located near Powell in Liberty Township, Delaware County, Ohio, United States, north of the city of Columbus. The land lies along the eastern banks of the O'Shaughnessy Reservoir on the Sciot ...
while attending a Leadership Columbus event. He survived the attack with minor injuries. *In 2019, Patty Perry, a conservationist, was attacked at her animal sanctuary in
Moorpark, California Moorpark is a city in Ventura County in Southern California. Moorpark was founded in 1900. The town grew from just over 4,000 citizens in 1980 to over 25,000 by 1990. As of 2006, Moorpark was one of the fastest-growing cities in Ventura County. ...
by two Tigers during a donor event. * In 2020, a 55-year-old female zookeeper was killed by Irina, a Siberian tiger, in an enclosure at Zurich Zoo. * On 3 December 2020 a volunteer was bitten and seriously injured by a tiger named Kimba at
Big Cat Rescue Big Cat Rescue Corp., also known as BCR and previously known as Wildlife on Easy Street, Inc., operates an animal sanctuary in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States, which rescues and houses exotic cats, and rehabilitates injured or or ...
, the Florida animal sanctuary run by Carole Baskin. *In June 2021 a Siberian male tiger killed a predator park employee and another tiger in
Gqeberha Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, So ...
,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
. *In August 2021 a Bengal tiger killed Catalina Fernanda Torres Ibarra, a 21-year-old female zookeeper, at a safari park in
Rancagua Rancagua () is a city and commune in central Chile and part of the Rancagua conurbation. It is the capital of the Cachapoal Province and of the O'Higgins Region, located south of the national capital of Santiago. It was originally named Sant ...
,
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
. * On 29 December 2021, an 8 year old Malayan tiger named Eko at Naples Zoo in South Florida was killed after a cleaning crew member breached barriers after hours and entered an unauthorized area of the tiger enclosure, resulting in the tiger biting his arm. After unsuccessful attempts to get the tiger to release the man, 26 year old River Rosenquist, a Collier County deputy shot the tiger.


See also

* 2015 Tbilisi flood#Animals in streets *
Ming of Harlem Ming was a tiger that became notable when he was found living in an apartment in Harlem, New York City, United States, in October 2003. Ming, approximately three years old at the time of his capture, lived semi-openly with his owner, Antoine Yate ...
* List of large carnivores known to prey on humans


References


External links


Video 6:12
'Tigers Kill Men!' A short film on rising Man and Tiger conflict and its consequences. The video depicts an encounter of human civilization with the wildlife around the conserved forests at Kaziranga.
Man-eaters
– Comprehensive site covering man-eating tigers.
Tiger attacks other Tiger
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tiger Attack Tigers Felidae attacks