Monday Musing
[M Doley]
In March 2025, a report was published in this daily about a tiger captured on a camera trap in the Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary by a survey team. The report had drawn much attention from wildlife activists and enthusiasts. The survey team had also released an image of the tiger.
Nearly a year after the report, a tragic incident occurred earlier this month in Mayudia, in which a head constable of the Arunachal Pradesh Police was killed in a suspected tiger attack. The incident sparked shockwaves across the state.
Attacks on humans by tigers in Arunachal Pradesh are extremely rare, and the recent fatality at Mayodia is stated to be the first reported incident of its kind in the state.
As per data from the National Tiger Conservation Authority and the Government of India, no human deaths due to tiger attacks were reported in Arunachal during the period from 2010 to 2024. However, 761 human deaths due to tiger attacks were reported in different states of the country during the same period, with Maharashtra recording the highest fatalities (316).
Government data say that India’s tiger population increased to 3,682 in 2022 from 2,967 in 2018, while in Arunachal, it decreased from 29 in 2018 to 9 in 2022.
According to experts, a mother tiger is very aggressive and can attack anything, including human and vehicles, that comes close to her cubs. Many believe that the incident at Mayudia could have been avoided had the department concerned taken some strict precautionary measures, like prohibiting travel on foot or two-wheelers along the road stretch, considering the camera-trap capture report and social media posts, showing tigers roaming freely on road in the area.
According to sources, efforts are on to capture the tiger(s) involved in the incident. Sources said also that teams have been deployed on the road stretch to ensure safety and security of commuters.
The incident in Mayudia should serve as a learning lesson, prompting the authorities to take preventive measures in all three tiger reserves in Arunachal, so that such tragic incidents do not recur.
Apart from this, there were also reports of human-elephant conflicts in Tirap district last year, claiming human lives. The forest department should look into it also and take appropriate measures to prevent or minimise such incidents.
