Wild Encounter: Royal Bengal Tiger Attacks Forest Worker in West Bengal

A forest department employee in West Bengal was seriously injured after being attacked by a Royal Bengal Tiger that strayed from its natural habitat. Efforts are ongoing to manage the situation and minimize human-wildlife conflict in the affected area.

A forest department worker was seriously injured on Monday after a Royal Bengal Tiger attack in Maipith, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, according to a senior forest official.

The employee was part of a team tracking the tiger's movements, which had wandered out of the Ajmalmari forest in the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve into Nagenbad village. The dense shrubland area posed challenges for the team.

The tiger attacked in nearby open farmland, but colleagues drove it off using sticks. The injured worker, Ganesh Shyamal, sustained severe injuries and was transferred to SSKM Hospital in Kolkata. Divisional forest officer Nisha Goswami confirmed his condition as serious but stable.

The incident has prompted the forest department to fence the area and alert villagers to safeguard their livestock. Goswami emphasized measures to avoid human-animal conflicts and detailed plans to safely guide or capture the tiger if necessary. The tiger may have swum across a river and could be attempting to establish new territory.