New Delhi, Feb 26 (.) Tigers, rarely known to indulge in eating humans, are now being reported to eat parts of humans after attacking them, according to a report by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a Delhi-based climate think tank.

Experts attributed the altered feeding pattern of the big cats to the increased numbers of both humans and the feline population in the wild, poor conservation strategies, and habitat loss as some of the key reasons.

The report published on Wednesday pointed out that from the 20 states with tiger populations, about 40 per cent of the tiger’s territory is shared by 60 million people, indicating growing big cat population in human inhabited areas.

Between January-June 2025, 43 people have been killed near tiger reserves. Among the four of these 43 attacks, the wild cats ate the parts of their prey, the study reported highlighting the human-eating behavior of the feline species.

Such attacks on humans happens when the cats grow old or suffer from injuries, leaving them unable to hunt for food or in rarer cases when the prey disapppears, expert pointed out. However the trend is changing as expert noted that tigers no longer dread humans in the vicinity.

“Big cats losing their fear of humans,” said a Bengaluru-based conservation biologist K Ullas Karanth as another reason for surge in incidence of humans being targeted by tigers as noted in the report.

The study further expanded that tiger populations inside reserve areas are at a saturation point: as a result, the big cats are venturing outside protected areas. The overcrowding, habitat loss and human activities near tiger habitats are the reasons behind behavioural changes in tigers, it added.

. MBJ RSA