Four women who went into the forest early Friday morning to collect leaves were killed by a tigress in Maharashtra’s Chandrapur district, taking the number of human-wildlife conflicts in the region to 18 since January, forest officials said.
The accident occurred in the Jungiwahi forest area of Sindiwahi district, about 200 km from Nagpur. The area is adjacent to the famous Tadoba Tiger Project.
According to reports, the tigress pounced on a group of women who had gone into the forest early in the morning to collect tendu leaves, a seasonal summer income source for local tribal and rural families.
The deceased have been identified as Kavdubhai Dadaji Mohurli (45), Anuphai Dadaji Mohurli (46), Sangeeta Santosh Chowdhury (36) and Sunita Kaushik Mohurli (33), all residents of Jungiwahi village.
Forest officials said this was one of the rarest and most serious tiger attacks reported in the state in recent times.
Mohan Kothekar, an environmental and wildlife expert, said that the tigress attacking four women was very unusual. He added that it is possible that the tigress attacked the women one by one out of fear for her safety or perhaps to protect her cubs, if they were found nearby.
The incident sparked panic in Jungwahi district and renewed anger against the forest department.
Senior police and forest authorities immediately rushed to the spot after receiving information and opened an investigation into the incident, Sindwahi district forest officer Anjali Sayankar said.
“The Forest Department provided immediate compensation of Rs $25,000 for each bereaved family. “We have also initiated several measures to reduce human-animal conflict in the region,” Sayankar said.
Earlier, on May 18, 55-year-old Vanita Shankar Oike was killed by a leopard in Ngbhed taluka while collecting tendu leaves.
