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luckydog1 -> RE: Born to Be Wild - 'Yarak' and that recent Tiger accident... (1/12/2008 5:16:33 PM)
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Tigers do eat people though. We are not thier main or prefered food, but we are indeed food. Googling http://www.lairweb.org.nz/tiger/maneating11.html I got a number that only 3 out of 1000 tigers will try to kill a man, but that is one of the largest predators of Humans that exists. Other animals kill people: snakes, bears ect, but do not eat them. The site notes that on a per capita basis Alaskan Grizzlies kill as many people, but because they don't like people, not to eat them. There are hundreds of Andecotal stories of Bear attacks where the bear bites out a chunck of flesh, chews it, spits it out, and walks away. Tigers (albiet usually sick or one with problems) develop a taste for human flesh, and it is a problem that villagers living in Tiger lands have had to deal with for thousands of years.
Sometimes man-eaters are moved into reserves, though the success of this is often minimal, with the newly introduced cat getting killed when crossing into the territory of an existing tiger.
But the Sundarbans is already a reserve and different options have had to be tried in an attempt to discourage these tigers attacking people. If there are a number of theories as to why the Bengals of the Sundarbans attack man, there are even more ideas on how to re-train them.
Idea 1 - WEARING MASKS:
This simple, yet strange idea was first tested in 1986. Tigers almost always attack from the rear, so the thought was a mask worn on the back of the head would confuse the tigers enough to prevent attacks.
The Indian government issued groups of workers with masks, and surprisingly, the idea worked. After a year no attacks had been reported upon those with masks, whilst thirty people not using the new system had been attacked and killed. It was noted that tigers followed some mask wearers for many hours, but without attack. In one later fatal attack on a mask wearer the tiger attacked from the side rather than the rear.
Villagers were always pessimistic about the long term effectiveness of the practice, saying that the tiger would soon learn the trick and attacks resume. Unfortunately, they were correct and though the system is still used, it is with decreasing effectiveness.
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