Tigers, fisherman and the forest

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Sabitri Mondal holds picture of her husband
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The Sundarbans mangrove forests along the coastline of India and Bangladesh - a delicately balanced ecosystem that protects the densely populated Bay of Bengal from the worst extremes of nature - is home to the endangered royal Bengal tiger. Dozens of people are killed every year by the big cats. The charity Christian Aid travelled to the region to meet widows, attack survivors and a conservationist who says without the tigers “the entire landscape would vanish”.
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Most local people rely on the forest and the river for food. They earn money by fishing or collecting honey, which brings them into direct contact with the notoriously aggressive tigers. Sabitri Mondal's husband was killed two years ago. She says: “When I heard the news, I fainted. I had to continue the household. I took up some work in the field, and my son started working outside as a labourer. He didn’t want to catch fish here after his father’s accident so he went to work in Kolkata [Calcutta]."
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As locals venture deeper into the forest for work, they become increasingly vulnerable to attack. Usha Rami’s husband was killed by a tiger eight years ago. She says: “My husband never used to go to the forest. He always had a fear. The first day he went fishing, the first day I had bad luck."
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Anath Seal suffered injuries to his head when a tiger attacked him in 2002. He says: "When the tiger came running, I had a stick in my hand. I hit the tiger twice, but the stick broke. The tiger was salivating in front of me. Next, he gave me a slap on the side of my face, and then he caught my head with both paws.”
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It is thought the increase in attacks is due to the depletion of the tigers' natural habitat and a shortage of prey. Ranjit Biswas was cutting down wood in the forest when he was attacked. He says: "Suddenly the tiger came from behind and gave a bite with his mouth to my hip. I fell to the ground. He caught me for 10 minutes. He was on top of me and I was on the ground."
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“As the tiger jumped, he caught hold of my head and pulled me backwards. The whole world became dark. I could no longer see anything as my head was inside the tiger’s mouth,” says Rabi Majumdar.
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Many villagers continue to fish the rivers and canal that crisscross the Sundarbans delta. Laxmi Dhali’s husband was killed by a tiger almost six years ago, while fishing in the forest. She says: “I couldn’t educate my children. My son still goes fishing daily. I don’t feel like sleeping unless and until my son returns home. Sometimes I even walk on the road to see if he is coming.”
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Avijit Dhali is the only man left in his family after his father was killed by a tiger. He says: “I am in a constant fear while going fishing, but I have no choice because to live I need food, and the main occupation of the people of this area is fishing and crab collecting. The level of water in the sea is constantly increasing, and the land is destroyed when the salt water enters. That is why we are fishing."
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Minati Roy’s husband was killed 15 years ago, while collecting honey in the forest. She says: “The tigers are protecting the forest. When we ask the authorities why we need these forests, they explain that if there are no forests, no trees, there would be no life. This is the reason why they are protecting the forests.”
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“If you take the tiger away, people will be fearless. They will do all sorts of illegal activities like felling of trees," Kolkata's Society of Heritage and Ecological Researches director Joydip Kundu says. "It’s like a chain. The tiger is protecting the ecosystem, and because of that the mangrove shield is still there. The moment you take the tiger out of the landscape, the entire ecosystem will vanish.” (More information can be found at: www.christianaid.org.uk/tigers )

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