Authorities ordered hundreds of villagers in northern India not to leave their homes after dark on Monday after two people were killed in tiger attacks.
According to the government, at least 108 people were killed in tiger attacks in India between 2019 and mid-2021. Conservationists attribute an increase in man-animal conflict to the rapid expansion of human settlements around forests and key wildlife corridors.
Last year, police shot and killed a tiger known as the “man-eater of Champaran,” which had killed at least nine people in eastern India. The country in South Asia is home to 75 percent of the world’s tiger population. According to the most recent census, which was released last week, India is home to an estimated 3,167 big cats.
Their numbers have recovered over the last decade, but the rate of increase has slowed to less than 7% between 2018 and 2022, down from more than 30% in the previous four years.