[kellyhound]

India. In a tiger attack this morning, 4 women were killed while collecting tendu leaves in a forest area.

The incident took place in the Gunjewahi-Pawanpar forest belt, where 13 women from the village had gone together early in the morning to collect tendu leaves a key source of seasonal income for families in the region during summer. By the time the group returned, only 9 women made it back alive.

The women were busy collecting leaves inside the forest when a tiger lying in wait inside dense bushes suddenly attacked them around 8 am.

Four women died on the spot, while the others escaped after screaming for help and running out of the forest. The incident sent shockwaves through the area, with villagers rushing towards the forest after hearing about the attack.

The deceased were identified as Kavita D.M. (45), Anita D.M (46), Sunita K.M. (33) from the same family and Sangita S.C. (40).

Patrolling has been intensified and residents have been advised not to venture deep into forests alone during the tendu leaf collection season.

[philovan]

I don't see signs of the tiger's feeding on the bodies. Was this a territorial dispute?

[normdiaz]

Cub protection?

[Caf002]

I’d think that they would have torn them up more, especially if they were being protective.

[ENT0MANCER]

time to go hunting..

[William May]

Originally Posted by philovan ↗

I don't see signs of the tiger's feeding on the bodies. Was this a territorial dispute?

Tigers will normally chase any competing tigers out of their living area, once they establish it as their own. Sometimes there are fights, but usually not to the death, just to establish which tiger is dominant and will keep the area, and which one will move on. The fights seem quite ferocious, but I have never actually seen blood drawn. It is kind of a threat situation in which they claw and snarl at each other, until one of them decides to hit the road and move on.

When Tiger moms are watching their cubs, they CAN be quite vicious in dealing with interloper males of ANY persuasion, apparently because random males will try and kill a Tiger's cubs if she is not watching them carefully. I HAVE seen some serious wounds when mothers were protecting their cubs. Unlike lions, male and female tigers DO NOT become friends and hang out.

Unless it is mating season, female tigers are not welcoming AT ALL to any males passing through their territory, and will attack them to get them to move on their way somewhere else.

Also, tiger cubs will turn on their mothers and force them to leave an area they have selected as their own. Competition is tough.

The tiger in this case was probably feeling beleaguered in it's territory, by constantly encroaching villagers, and decided to lurk for some easy meat.

This tiger will probably NOT be shot, as tigers are increasingly viewed as endangered in India. They also have genetic AFRICAN lions in India, but they are limited to a VERY TINY area of the country, and there are not many left.

[m14brian]

I think the territorial defense with such a small area/defense of cubs is what happened, there (at least in the pics) is no showing of massive blood, and attack for meat.
If it was an attack for food, I would have said, "They're GRRRRREAT!"

[kellyhound]

Originally Posted by normdiaz ↗

Cub protection?

Forest officials suspect the attack was carried out by a tigress accompanied by her cubs. It is highly likely she ambushed the group aggressively to protect her young from the approaching humans.

The Forest Division has deployed tracking teams alongside 30 camera traps and 3 live-monitoring cameras to pinpoint the exact location and movements of the tigress.

This tragedy marks the 18th human death from human-wildlife conflict in that area since January 2026.

Angry residents are protesting, blaming the forest department and demanding that the tiger be captured or put down immediately.

Under Indian wildlife law, forest departments cannot immediately cage a tiger after an attack.

Because this incident occurred deep inside the forest, where the women entered the tiger's natural habitat, authorities must first prove the tiger is a habitual man-eater rather than an animal that just reacted defensively.

If the camera traps show the tiger tracking human settlements or showing abnormal aggression, a formal capture order will then be fast-tracked to quell the ongoing protests

They haven't located the tiger yet.

₹25,000 has already been paid directly to each victim’s family. This was handed over immediately at the site to cover urgent funeral and support costs.

The remaining balance of the ₹25 lakh state compensation will be processed and disbursed into the families' bank accounts after formal post-mortem reports and state paperwork guidelines are completed.

The tragedy happened because the women were forced to take risks to support their families financially. Collecting tendu leaves during the peak summer month of May serves as a critical, vital source of seasonal income for the local tribal communities.

A typical family relies on this collection to earn roughly ₹25,000 to ₹30,000 over a two-month period.

Because of the extreme economic dependency on these forest resources, hundreds of villagers regularly enter active tiger habitats despite the known dangers.

[LERK]

they died doing what they loved

[Mr.NoCredit]

Top woman looks like she was bitten in the neck. There are a couple of visible bite wounds on the others but it’s rather difficult to tell what type of injuries these women died from. Other than just being bitten by a tiger.