Tiger in India Has Eaten Nine People
Posted on February 16, 2014
A tiger in India has killed and eaten nine people. The people are from small villages and farm sugarcane for a living. Sugarcane grows taller than humans and gives the tiger a great way to hide from people while still observing them. The villagers are now living in fear of the tiger, which is believed to be a female. The poor villagers have no choice but to go outside to work and use the bathroom. They have started traveling in groups for safety. Hunters are now searching for the tiger.
io9 reports that the tiger was nearly caught by hunters last week when a live calf was used as bait. The tiger chose not to attack the calf and got away. Some media outlets say the tiger has killed ten people and not nine.
Tigers generally avoid humans and experts aren't exactly sure why the tiger is hunting people. CBS News reports that local villagers fear the tiger has developed a "taste for human flesh," but some hunters disagree. They think the tiger may have an infected tooth, which may force it to eat human flesh. Human flesh is softer than the tougher skin of buffalo and other animals. The Champawat Tiger, a female Bengal tiger, killed 430 people in the early 1900s. After it was killed a postmortem showed it had broken teeth which probably prevented her from eating normal prey.
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