Tiger claims one more

With Sunday8217;s attack, the number of people killed by tigers in the Tadoba-Andheri Tiger Reserve TATR in Mul tehsil has gone up to 16.

8220;Sukhdev Dhongde, 57, from Janala village was attacked by a tiger when he was grazing cattle. Of late, a number of tigers have been sighted in this area. It is presumed he was killed by one of them,8221; said R M Dayal, Conservator of Forests, Chandrapur Division north. Earlier on February 3, 19-year-old Prashant Raipure from Warwat village was dragged into the forest by a tiger.

There are over 40 tigers in this reserve. Another 22 have been reported from the adjoining Territorial and Forest Development Corporation. The Indian Express was the first to report on the issue of rising tiger population leading to the probability of increasing man-animal conflict, on May 31, 2006.