Man-animal conflict claims another life; 2022 toll reaches 53

Chandrapur: The man-animal conflict claimed another life in Chandrapur district on Saturday. Sitabai Salame (60) was killed by a tigress in the fields of village Torgaon, in north Bramhapuri forest range on New Year’s Eve. Saturday’s incident has taken the district’s death toll in predator attack to 53 this year.
Salame, a resident of Torgaon, was working in the field when the problem tigress attacked her at around 5pm. Her daughter-in-law, who was working in a nearby field, shouted for help. As other farm workers rushed to the spot, the tigress fled, leaving Salame in a pool of blood.
Foresters of north Bramhapuri range rushed to the spot, after being informed about the incident. The forest team faced the wrath of the villagers, who were angry over two human kills within two days in the area. The villagers allowed the body to be sent for postmortem, only after getting assurance from the forest and police officials that the problem tigress would be captured soon.
Forest officials suspect that the same tigress had killed a woman in a farm near Irvha village in Nagbhid range on Friday.
The number of humans killed in predator attacks in the district has reached 53 in 2022. Of these, 46 people were killed by tigers, while seven lost life in leopard attacks.