The Sundarban Tiger

[Pckts]

The Tiger Detectives
3 theories of why the tigers in the Sundarbans kill so many people. None are confirmed, as yet.

• Theory 1: Loss of Territorial Markers 
  • Tigers spray specific trees with their urine. This scent mark is a message for other tigers. For female tigers it can be an advert to a prospective mate that she is willing to mate, or that she isn’t. It can also be a message to another female and between rival males it can mean this is my home so stay out! Unlike in other parts of India these marking trees of the Sundarbans are regularly submerged by the rising tides. (Watch the timelapse video will show how the tide changes affect the mangroves.) One theory is that with tiger’s territorial markers being washed away tigers have to completely dominate their patch, aggressively attacking any potential threat — including people. 
    

• Theory 2: Lack of Hunting Pressure 
  • During the British colonial rule of India and Nepal thousands of tigers were killed when rich British and India aristocracy went on hunting trips. As many as 100 tigers were killed on single trips. However unlike some of India’s biggest national parks there was relatively less hunting of tigers at the turn of the century in the Sundarbans. In places like the Russian Far East and India where the tigers were heavily hunted it is possible that those that have survived are the ones that have a natural fear of people. However, in the Sundarbans the tigers have not been conditioned to fear humans. So perhaps man-eating is just their natural state.
    

• Theory 3: A Taste for Human Flesh
  • Bangladesh regularly suffers devastating cyclones and savage storms in the Bay of Bengal. Over the years, many bodies have been washed up in the Sundarbans forests. Tigers are scavengers too, and they may have developed a taste for human flesh after feeding on corpses. They then pass on the behavior of hunting humans to their young. This may seem far fetched but the same phenomenon was documented in Vietnam after the war and also with wolves in Poland after World War II.
    

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