Ranthambhore tigress kills forest ranger weeks after mauling boy; experts say ‘it all began when…’

It all began at the onset of summer in 2023, when tigress Arrowhead, then a little over eight years old and displaced by her offspring, tigress Riddhi, from prime habitat along the lakes to the adjacent Nalghati area, was spotted with a hip bone deformity. Increasingly handicapped, Arrowhead had its fourth litter of two females and a male soon after, the report said.

Forest officials began providing live prey close to the Jogi Mahal gate out of concern for Arrowhead's safety as well as the survival of her young offspring.

This move has reportedly backfired. Over the past year, cubs born to Riddhi and another tigress, T-107 (Sultana), began feeding on the easy prey. Tigers, including Arrowhead’s three cubs, soon became habituated to receiving food from near human structures and began to lose their natural fear of people, according to the report.

Currently, at least 15 tigers, including four adult tigresses, two males, and nine grown cubs, frequent a small five square kilometre zone around Jogi Mahal, Ranthambhore Fort and the Ganesh temple. This area is visited daily by hundreds of tourists and pilgrims, increasing the potential for deadly encounters.

Wildlife experts say the practice of live baiting, coupled with a lack of proper monitoring and failure to act decisively after early warning signs, has created a crisis. Unusual tiger behaviour, including stalking vehicles and venturing fearlessly into populated zones, was repeatedly ignored. On April 13, forest guard Babu narrowly escaped an attack by Kankati. Three days later, on April 16, seven-year-old Kartik Suman was snatched and killed by the same tigress in front of dozens of witnesses.

Despite this, a proposal to shift Kankati to an enclosure was reportedly rejected by the state’s forest department. Instead, field staff were told to control pilgrim traffic and use firecrackers to scare tigers away.

Then came the latest attack on May 11, when ranger Choudhury was killed in broad daylight near the same area. Witnesses, including labourers and tourists, saw the tigress and a male tiger ambush him. Officials have confirmed that Kankati was involved in both fatal attacks.

According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) protocol, a tiger that deliberately attacks humans more than once must be captured and relocated. However, Rajasthan’s chief wildlife warden has not yet taken a final decision. Field Director K R Anoop said a proposal is under consideration.

Experts warn the crisis may worsen if corrective action is not taken immediately. “By offering medical care, food and creating water facilities, we artificially increased the tiger population and also made them get used to human presence. Arrowhead’s grown-up cubs may pose even greater problems in the future, as they are no longer hunters. They are becoming semi-domesticated animals waiting to be fed,” Dharmendra Khandal of TigerWatch, a Ranthambhore-based NGO, said while speaking to The Indian Express.

Valmik Thapar, who has followed tigers in Ranthambhore for over five decades, said any tiger that kills a human being must be relocated. “It is our job to protect the tiger’s future, but not by letting man-killers and man-eater’s roam. Some tigers turn into nasty killers and must be jailed just like humans are for killing. That is the only way man and tiger will be able to survive into the future,” Indian Express quoted him as saying.