Royal Bengal Tiger falls to croc in battle of the wild

As a group of fishermen in a local crocodile-infested river in Debanki in Sundarbans saw a big dead tiger floating, it confirmed a worst fear that the mangrove forest lost a Royal Bengal Tiger to crocodile attack as it tried to swim across the river.

It was a rare sight, as both fishermen and forest experts believe that both tiger and crocodiles, often avoid each other instinctively to escape fatalities.

Reports reaching here said the tiger which wanted to swim across the river was attacked by a crocodile or a group of crocodiles, and after giving them some fight, “with deep injuries, the bleeding cat succumbed to death.’’

Speaking to DNA, a top forest department official Sitanshu Bikas Mandal said: “Even the post-mortem report confirmed that after a fight with the crocodile, the tiger died due to fatal injuries.’’

Incidentally, when forest officials recovered the body on Tuesday, they saw a group of crocodiles were encircling the dead tiger.
The forest officials could not confirm whether it was an attack by a lonely crocodile or a group.