March 20, 2008	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 11, 1429

KHULNA, March 19: Tigers stalking into Bangladesh villages around Sundarbans mangrove forests have killed six people and mauled 12 others over the last two months, forest officials said on Tuesday.

In the latest incident, a fisherman was killed on Monday at Satkhali village near the vast swampy forest some 500 km southwest of Dhaka.

The victims were attacked while they were either fishing or farming near the forests.

A tiger was trapped alive by people at Goripur village and handed over to Forest Department to return it to the swampy forest.

In December, a Royal Bengal tiger, an endangered species, was killed in a confrontation with villagers at a village. Four people were also injured in the confrontation.

Forest officials said tigers sneaking into villages mainly at night has increased following the deadly cyclone that hit Bangladesh coasts late last year.

“The straying of tigers has increased in recent months.

Maybe they are coming out of forests in search of food,” a senior forest official said.

The forest was depleted of food by Cyclone Sidr, which struck the Bangladesh coast

on Nov 15 with winds of 250 kph and killed about 3,500

people and made millions homeless. At least 60 per cent of the 6,000 sq km mangrove swamps within Bangladesh, home for more than 400 Royal Bengal tigers, was devastated by the cyclone, officials then said.

The Sundarbans stretch for a further 4,000 sq km into India’s eastern state of West Bengal.

—Reuters