Tiger Attack on Farmer in Ranthambore Tiger Reserve of Rajasthan

There is always a conflict between man and animal when one of these enters another's 'Habitat'. One such case came out in Khandar region of Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve when a 25 year old farmer was grazing goats in the forest area when it was attacked by a tiger on Sunday, January 14, 2018.

The farmer cowboy, identified as Ramkesh Gujjar, who is a resident of Ganesh Nagar village on the periphery of Ranthambore Tiger Reserve. The young farmer has been hurt on his eyes, back and neck and he has been referred to the Sawai Mansingh Hospital (SMS) in Jaipur and now his condition remains critical, said a top forest official.

This incident happened within the forest boundary near Padda village. Ramkesh had taken goats inside the Tiger territory, when he was attacked by the feline. After hearing the tiger's roaring, the goats ran away from there and only then the tiger targeted Ramkesh's face. Ramkesh's scream was listened by another villager and then he started yelling at the tiger. Upon hearing the shouting, the tiger left Ramkesh and fled from there, said Rohit Chawla, station house officer, Khandar police station.

The injured Ramkesh was brought from there to his village by villagers and they informed to the forest department and police officers. The victim was taken to a local hospital where his family had taken him to Jaipur for better treatment. The left part of his face was crushed by the tiger and he has lost his eye. The Forest Department suspects that the attacker tiger may be T-65 behind of this incident. According to the source, Tiger T-65 was seen on Sunday morning in the area.

Before this, incidents of animal-human conflict have been recorded in the Kandahar region of the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve. In May 2015, a tiger attacked a 35-year-old man in the buffer zone of Khandar area. Similarly in month of November 2017, a Tiger had entered the fields in Talwada village of Khandar region and attacked a farmer.

Experts say that human-animal conflict will increase in future due to the increase in the number of tigers population in Ranthambore Tiger Reserve. Tiger population in Ranthambore tiger Reserve has increased around 65, which is a record in itself. It is also the highest in the history of Tiger Reserve, some source said.

During the dry season, when there is lack of water or feed, so villagers enter the forest in search of fodder for cattle, which increase the likelihood of man-animal conflicts.

Rajasthan government plans to relocate tigers and Forest Department will soon relocate tigers from Ranthambore to Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve.

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