Tiger leaps onto boat, snatches man in east India

[scho63]

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http://news.yahoo.com/tiger-leaps-on...090431380.html

KOLKATA, India (AP) — A Bengal tiger snatched a man off a fishing boat in eastern India, dragging him away into a mangrove swamp as his children looked on in horror, the man's son said Friday.

The attack happened Thursday as Sushil Manjhi and his son and daughter were crab fishing in a stream in the Sunderbans National Park. The tiger leaped aboard the boat and clamped its jaws on Manjhi's neck, said Sushil's son, Jyotish.

The tiger "quickly flung my father on his back and gave a giant leap before disappearing into the forest," Jyotish said by telephone from his village of Lahiripur in West Bengal state. He said he and his sister tried to beat the animal with sticks and a knife, but the thrashing had no effect. His father was dragged away and was presumed dead.

The attack underlines the difficult existence of millions of poor Indians who make a living by scavenging in forests and rivers, often at risk from wild predators. Many villagers fish for crabs in the Sunderbans — even though it's illegal in the protected reserve — because they fetch a good price at markets in nearby towns.

The national park is one of the largest reserves for the royal Bengal tiger. Thursday's attack was the fourth deadly assault by a tiger this year in the Sunderbans, wildlife officials said.

India has more than half of the 3,200 tigers believed to be left in the wild in the world. But as the country undergoes breakneck development to accommodate the growth of its 1.2 billion people, tiger habitats have been shrinking.

The big cat's numbers have also dwindled because of rampant poaching to feed a flourishing market for tiger organs and bones in China.

[rico]

Originally Posted by Raiderhader

It seemed to be the safe solution.......

Oh jeezuzz...you beat me to it... that's a rep.

[Sorter]

Awesome.

[Dayze]

this is what happens when Slugger's kin find out about stupid lawsuits.

[Sorter]

[mikey23545]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I suspect your best bet is to choke them on the way down.

I've wrestled house cats before and lost. I don't think there's any chance against something that weighs 4 times more, carries the equivalent of 25 knives, and has 2 percent body fat.

[OldSchool]

Poke its eyes, find and bite the jugular, grab the nearest hard object, etc. You've probably got about a 1% chance of doing enough to make it let go of you if you managed to see it coming. No chance if it gets the back of your neck or your head.

I think I'd rather have to fight a Grizzly off than have to fight a tiger/lion. Both things can and will kill you but the big cats are far better at it.

[WhiteWhale]

Originally Posted by notorious

There are only 3200 tigers left?

Thanks to big game hunting Lions won't be far behind. I doubt either will exist in another 20 years.

[MahiMike]

Originally Posted by MVChiefFan

You know, I've been thinking about this very thing. I was at the Field Museum in Chicago last weekend and checking out the lions of Tsavo and wondering, is there any real chance to defend yourself from an attack by a lion, tiger, bear or other large predatory animals? I mean obviously a gun would do the trick but say you had no weapons and was suddenly attacked, not chased, but attacked, what would you do? What could you do?

John belushi grabbed one by the nuts in a movie once.

[srvy]

Originally Posted by WhiteWhale

Thanks to big game hunting Lions won't be far behind. I doubt either will exist in another 20 years.

Its not the big game hunting its the poaching. Big difference. Even Jungle Jack Hanna will tell you that the hunting to cull overpopulation is healthy. What remains of the habitat and unlawful poaching is doing in the Lion not big game hunting.

[srvy]

Originally Posted by OldSchool

Poke its eyes, find and bite the jugular, grab the nearest hard object, etc. You've probably got about a 1% chance of doing enough to make it let go of you if you managed to see it coming. No chance if it gets the back of your neck or your head.

I think I'd rather have to fight a Grizzly off than have to fight a tiger/lion. Both things can and will kill you but the big cats are far better at it.

Read "Death in the Long Grass". Lions and Tigers are high on his list but not at the top. Elephants he said are the most dangerous especially with young calves. He used to have to cull the herds in Africa for the African wildlife commission. He has seen villagers stomped to the consistency of grape jelly, What was left would fill a jelly jar. Also Crocks, Hippos and Cape Buffalo were surprisingly volatile and man killers.

He later guided hunters on Kodiak Island for Grizzly Bear. I found a new respect for this animal and considered it maybe the most dangerous animal anywhere in the world. Mostly because its disposition. It was unpredictable and the slightest thing could set them off on a charge. Once infuriated they don't stop till they have ripped you to shreds and take great pleasure in ripping open chest cavities of animals still alive and eating their inards while they watch with there last dieing breaths.

[GloucesterChief]

Hippos kill more people in Africa then any other animal. They are territorial as hell, incredibly aggressive for a herbivore, will actively kill crocodiles when they have young around, and see humans as threats. They are also surprisingly stealthy in water and fast out of water.

[Why Not?]

Originally Posted by MVChiefFan

You know, I've been thinking about this very thing. I was at the Field Museum in Chicago last weekend and checking out the lions of Tsavo and wondering, is there any real chance to defend yourself from an attack by a lion, tiger, bear or other large predatory animals? I mean obviously a gun would do the trick but say you had no weapons and was suddenly attacked, not chased, but attacked, what would you do? What could you do?

You could think to yourself "I'm a ****ing dumbass for being around these beasts with no gun". And then die.

[kcfanXIII]

Originally Posted by OldSchool

Poke its eyes, find and bite the jugular, grab the nearest hard object, etc. You've probably got about a 1% chance of doing enough to make it let go of you if you managed to see it coming. No chance if it gets the back of your neck or your head.

I think I'd rather have to fight a Grizzly off than have to fight a tiger/lion. Both things can and will kill you but the big cats are far better at it.

why do you think domestic cats are only bred to certain sizes? Because they are godless killing machines, that's why. Imagine a house cat the size of a german Shepard.

[suzzer99]

Originally Posted by BigRichard

Is there a video of the rest of this attack? I would love to see it.

Edit: Nevermind, found it.



Not much more to see. Looks like he lost some fingers.

I read somewhere that the mahout (elephant driver) lost his arm. They had been stalking the tiger to try to tranquilize and tag it. Tiger got pissed eventually I guess. It's just amazing how the tiger can be completely invisible in that tall grass.

[Eleazar]

Originally Posted by kcfanXIII

why do you think domestic cats are only bred to certain sizes? Because they are godless killing machines, that's why. Imagine a house cat the size of a german Shepard.

haha. He'd be bringing toddlers to your back porch instead of mice