Jaipur:
A seven-year boy, identified as Kartik Suman, has been carried off by a tiger – even as his grandmother and uncle watched in shock – after visiting a temple inside Rajasthan’s Ranthambore National Park.
The boy’s grandmother said she was holding her grandson’s hand when the tiger leapt from the undergrowth, snatched the child by biting into his neck, and dragged him into the bushes.
Suman and his family had travelled from a village in Bundi district.
After visiting the temple they posed for photographs by the side of the road; in photos taken shortly before his tragic death, Suman, in jeans and a blue t-shirt is seen smiling shyly and posing against rock formations. In one photo the smiling boy crouches next to a monkey.
A team from the Forest Department managed to recover the body.
Following a routine post-mortem, the body has been handed over to Suman’s family.
An eyewitness said the tiger attacked after a group was returning from praying. “The child was walking with his grandmother… suddenly a tiger caught him by his neck and dragged him away.”
The tiger that attacked has not been identified as yet; there are at least three, all female, that have been spotted in this area in recent weeks, forest officials said.
The incident has prompted Agriculture Minister Kirodi Lal Meena to raise questions about the safety of the road, which sees heavy traffic, leading to the Trinetra Ganesh temple.
The minister also met Kartik Suman’s family to offer his condolences.
Tiger sightings have become common in this area.
Ranthambore is home to an estimated 70+ tigers.
An adult female tiger has a range of 15 to 20 sq km, while a male can dominate an area up to ten times larger. The park’s core area is less than 300 sq km, meaning individual tigers’ search for territory – i.e., tracts of land within which it lives and hunts – is bringing them into conflict with each other and humans.
The Hindkeshariis now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from The Hindkesharion your chat.