Living here in the United States, almost everyone has the luxuries of indoor plumbing and of gas, electric or oil heat. Yeah some of us use wood or pellet stoves to heat but mostly they don't have to go out into the wilds to fetch their fuel. In India, it is another story. Many do not have even a single electric bulb to light their homes let alone indoor plumbing or a delivered fuel source for their home heating and cooking. They go out into the tall grass of the fields and into the woods for a little privacy when answering natures call and into the forests to collect wood for cooking or heating and those activities can be quite treacherous for them. In the last 6 weeks alone, ten people living in rural India have been slain by a tigress near the Jim Corbett National Park. The park is named after a British Army officer who relentlessly hunted down tigers and leopards that preyed on people, thus saving an untold number of human lives.
In the current situation, hunters have not had the success that Corbett had while hunting these alpha predators. Despite efforts to bait the tigress with a young calf on Saturday night, the big cat eluded them and attacked its latest victim, a 50 year old man collecting wood, on Sunday night. The tiger killed him and partially devoured him but was then driven off by other villagers.
I still have to hand it to the hunters, even though they have not hit their mark yet, because I imagine it takes nerves of steel to sit on a stand over bait or to trudge through the woods trying to hunt down a man-eater. As the source article notes, only three of six hunters, hired to hunt the beast, even showed up. Those three who showed up have moxie but I hope they have the know-how too, otherwise they may find themselves the prey instead of the predators.
If you would like to learn more about why big cats become man-eaters, about hunting them down or just read a great adventure book, I suggest reading MAN-EATERS of KUMAON authored by Jim Corbett. It is an excellent and thrilling account about several of his hunts for man-eaters.
All the best,
Glenn B
In the current situation, hunters have not had the success that Corbett had while hunting these alpha predators. Despite efforts to bait the tigress with a young calf on Saturday night, the big cat eluded them and attacked its latest victim, a 50 year old man collecting wood, on Sunday night. The tiger killed him and partially devoured him but was then driven off by other villagers.
I still have to hand it to the hunters, even though they have not hit their mark yet, because I imagine it takes nerves of steel to sit on a stand over bait or to trudge through the woods trying to hunt down a man-eater. As the source article notes, only three of six hunters, hired to hunt the beast, even showed up. Those three who showed up have moxie but I hope they have the know-how too, otherwise they may find themselves the prey instead of the predators.
If you would like to learn more about why big cats become man-eaters, about hunting them down or just read a great adventure book, I suggest reading MAN-EATERS of KUMAON authored by Jim Corbett. It is an excellent and thrilling account about several of his hunts for man-eaters.
All the best,
Glenn B
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