60-year-old man mauled to death by tiger in TATR buffer zone

A 60-year-old man was killed after a tiger attacked him on Thursday at the Mul range in the buffer zone of Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in Chandrapur.

A 60-year-old man was killed after a tiger attacked him on Thursday at the Mul range in the buffer zone of Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in Chandrapur.

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This takes the tally of human deaths due to tiger attacks in the state to 24 between January and June this year with 16 deaths reported from Chandrapur alone. In 2019 there were 26 deaths and 25 deaths were reported in 2018.

There have been 40 human deaths in the state due to animal attacks this year including tigers, leopards, sloth bears etc.

In the latest case, Ramesh Bhimrao Veladi, a cattle grazer from Katwan village, was mauled to death by the tiger in the afternoon, said forest officials. “This is the first human death reported in the Mul range in over the past two years. Based on our inquiry, it seems that the tiger was about to attack and kill his cattle when he may have come in the way while trying to protect his cattle. We found his body in compartment number 767 at 2pm,” said G Guruprasad, deputy conservator of forest (DCF), TATR buffer. “The man had permission and a pass for cattle grazing in the buffer area.”

The forest department on Thursday gave a compensation of ₹30,000 to the family. “The remaining ₹14.7 lakh will be given following his autopsy report and other formalities,” said Guruprasad.

HT had, on June 12, reported that the state chief wildlife warden had warned of increasing human-animal conflict cases in Chandrapur which is home to over 170 of 312 tigers in Maharashtra.