A harrowing tiger attack unfolded in Badagalapura village, Saragur taluk, on October 16, 2025, captured on video as a 34-year-old farmer, Mahadev, was mauled while working in a field, leaving him critically injured and sparking outrage among residents. Eyewitness footage shows the tiger bursting from nearby bushes and charging at a group of villagers, who scrambled up trees to escape, but Mahadev was dragged to the ground and savagely bitten on his face and head, inflicting severe wounds including disfigurement. He was rushed to a local hospital but succumbed to his injuries en route, according to preliminary reports from sources on X, turning a survival story into a tragedy amid ongoing human-wildlife conflicts in the region.
The assault occurred during an early morning combing operation by the Forest Department, launched just days earlier in response to weeks of escalating tiger sightings that had instilled widespread fear among the agrarian community. Villagers, reliant on fields bordering forested areas near Bandipur Tiger Reserve, reported multiple close encounters, including livestock predations, but accused officials of delaying decisive action like tranquiliser deployment or relocation.
"We’ve been pleading for help, but nothing happened until this horror," one eyewitness told reporters, as the video—shared widely on social media—depicts the frantic climb and the tiger's relentless pursuit, amplifying calls for immediate intervention. Mysuru's proximity to protected habitats has seen a surge in such incidents, with Karnataka recording over 50 tiger-related human attacks in 2025 alone, per state wildlife data.
Enraged locals confronted forest officials post-attack, blocking roads and demanding compensation, enhanced patrolling, and the tiger's swift capture to prevent further predations. Similar frustrations boiled over in September 2025, when farmers in the nearby Chamarajanagar district locked department staff in a cage during a protest over repeated assaults.
The Karnataka Forest Department, stretched thin amid a tiger population exceeding 500—up from 300 a decade ago—has invoked the Wildlife Protection Act to balance conservation with community safety, but critics argue for more solar fencing and awareness drives. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests CY Gopinath confirmed the operation's intensification, including drone surveillance, vowing to track the sub-adult male tiger believed responsible.
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This incident underscores the intensifying human-tiger interface in southern India, where habitat fragmentation drives big cats into farmlands, claiming lives and eroding trust in wildlife management. As Mahadev's family grapples with unimaginable loss, community leaders urge state intervention, including ex-gratia payments up to ₹5 lakh under existing schemes. On X, posts from locals like @ravikeerthi22 described the visuals as "chilling", with over 7,000 views highlighting the tiger's brutality, fuelling demands for accountability.
With winter approaching and crop cycles peaking, authorities face mounting pressure to avert a repeat, blending empathy for conservation with urgent human safeguards in this biodiversity hotspot.
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