nnnnnnn
Human-wildlife conflict continues to escalate in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district after a woman, Kachrabai Bharde, 54, was mauled to death by a tiger on Wednesday. This is the sixth death due to tiger attacks in the district within just five days.

According to reports, the woman went ​into the forest near Karbada village to collect tendu leaves. She was with her husband, Arun, and other women from the village when the incident occurred. While she was plucking tendu leaves, a tiger hiding in the bushes suddenly pounced on her. Her husband heard the screams and saw the tiger dragging her away. Arun rushed back to the village to alert the locals. Villagers later found Bharde's body lying in a pool of blood in the forest.

Angered by the recurring attacks, locals staged a protest against the forest department and the district administration, demanding proper compensation and a government job for the victim's son. The forest and police officials pacified the crowd and sent the body for post-mortem to the local civil hospital.

Yogita Atram, the Range Forest Officer (RFO), said advisories have been issued to villagers regarding forest entry during the on-going tendu leaf collection season. "We are monitoring the movement of big cats closely and have intensified patrolling in vulnerable areas. However, the regular entry of people into the forest increases the risk," she said. The forest department has provided an emergency compensation of ₹50,000 to the victim's family.

This incident follows a series of fatal tiger attacks in the region.

On Monday, Bhumeswari Deepak Bhendare, 30, from Bhadurli village was killed while collecting tendu leaves.

On Saturday, a tiger killed three women — Kantabai Choudhary, 55, her daughter-in-law Shubhangi Choudhary, 30, and Sarika Shende, 50, — in a single attack.

On Sunday, Vimala Shinde, 65, of Nagla village, was similarly attacked and killed by a tiger.

Tendu leaf collection, vital for the beedi (leaf cigarette) industry, is a key seasonal livelihood for the people in that region. This puts them at grave risk, as forest-dependent communities increasingly come into contact with wildlife. Nearly 40 percent of the tendu leaves in Maharashtra are collected from Chandrapur and the adjoining tribal district of Gadchiroli, generating substantial revenue for the state government.

Chandrapur, home to the renowned Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve, is a hotspot for human-animal conflict. Over 130 tigers and several leopards are believed to inhabit the reserve and its surrounding areas.

In the past three years, more than 225 people have died in wild animal attacks across Maharashtra, with Chandrapur accounting for the majority of tiger-related fatalities. So far in 2025, 18 people have died in wildlife-related incidents in the district — 27 such deaths were reported in 2024, and 25 in 2023.

The rising toll prompts urgent calls for stronger mitigation measures and long-term solutions to protect both human lives and wildlife.