The Last Man Eater Of The Mangroves

[Hunter-Habib]

Hey, gents. A couple of months back, I shared an account of the hunt for the second of the 3 man eating Royal Bengal tigers which I had shot (1988), back when I used to be the DFO (Divisional Forest Officer) of the Sundarban mangrove forests. As I mentioned previously, I’m working with an editor to put together a little book of my tiger hunting adventures back in the good old days. Problem is that I’m incredibly lazy and all of a sudden, I lose motivation. And then, I get it back again.

Well, today I thought of sharing my account of how I shot my final man eater (in 1989). Coincidentally, this was the last Royal Bengal tiger to be legally killed in the Sundarbans (as of this time of writing in April, 2023). Hopefully, some of you will enjoy it. And I’ll eventually pull myself together and get that book finished.

Alright, then. Here, we go.

The Author With The Man Eater Of Atharobeki (1989)

 

[Hunter-Habib]

The year was now 1989 and I was getting ready to retire from my position as Divisional Forest Officer and advance my political career. It was around this time that reports of a notorious man eating Royal Bengal tiger operating in the Atharobeki area of the Buri Goalini forest range in the Sundarbans had begun to surface. 39 human victims had been claimed by the great cat, before news of what had happened had finally reached my ears.

If my dear readers have read the previous 2 chapters of this book, then they will already be aware of the various non-lethal methods with which the Sundarban Department of Forests employ in an attempt to contend with a man eating Royal Bengal tiger. Thus, I will spare my dear readers the monotony of having to read all of it again. Needless to say, all attempts to frighten the man eater away from Atharobeki had culminated in utter failure. Attempts to capture the tiger alive had proven to be just as unsuccessful. After the man eater had fatally mangled his 44th human victim, the local residents were almost ready to riot against the Sundarban Department of Forests for their perceived ineptness.

The Chief Conservator had specifically ordered me that I was never to approach him again with another report for requesting him to convince the Ministry of Forests to issue a Death Order for a man eating Royal Bengal tiger. It had been done 3 times in the last 9 years and media had riled up a very public smear campaign against the Sundarban Department of Forests. A bunch of journalists, so-called “animal rights activists” and armchair experts (who always seemed to know more about wildlife and environmental management than those of us who were actually formally educated on the subject and spent our day to day lives in the forests) had begun to circulate negative rumors about the Sundarban Department of Forests. They claimed that we had killed those 3 previous Royal Bengal tigers unnecessarily, because we were simply “Too lazy to explore non lethal options for subduing the tigers”. One tabloid (which was run by an owner who was DELUSIONALLY opposed to all forms of hunting) even went so far as to claim that the 2 tigers which I had shot in 1981 and 1988, had never killed any human beings at all. Apparently, I had shot those 2 “Defenseless magnificent creatures” in order to satiate my “”bloodthirsty urges” as a “Psychopathic Hunter”.

For these reasons, the Chief Conservator was desperate to avoid any further negative publicity and was determined never to approach the Ministry of Forests ever again to ask them issue a death order for a man eating Royal Bengal tiger.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Right at this time, salvation for the local residents of Atharobeki appeared to have arrived in the form of Brigadier General Mahmudul Hasan. The Brigadier sent a telegram to my Khulna head office one day, demanding that I meet him at the Forest Department’s Coupe Office in the Buri Goalini Forest Range on the following day. When I met him at the Coupe Office the next day, the Brigadier told me that I was to provide him with the “Forest Queen” as well as a dozen of my most experiencedforest guards to act as guides for him. I asked him what exactly it was that he planned to do. To which, the General confidently replied “Why… to bag this bloody man eater, of course! I shall make mincemeat out of this fiendish tiger!”.

I flatly told the General that it would be completely illegal to kill any Royal Bengal tiger (even it was a man eater), unless the Ministry of Forests issued a Death Order for the particular animal in question. The General smugly smirked and took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to me. Even before I took the paper into my hands, I could already recognize what the paper was (due to prior experience on 3 previous occasions). It was an official Death Order for the Man Eater of Atharobeki, issued by the Ministry of Forests. I was absolutely astonished. I asked the General how exactly he managed to successfully convince the Chief Conservator to approach the Ministry of Forests to issue a Death Order for the Royal Bengal tiger.

The General proudly told me that all he had to do, was approach the Chief Conservator and threaten him that he (the General) had the political wherewithal to have the Chief Conservator fired from his post… Unless the Chief Conservator gave him exactly what he wanted- Namely, to approach the Ministry of Forests and do his level best to persuade them to issue a Death Order for the Man Eater of Atharobeki. Despite feigning complete indifference to the General’s actions, truth be told… I was secretly extremely relieved to know that Brigadier General Mahmudul Hassan has managed to use his political connections to get a Death Order for the man eater to be issued by the Ministry of Forests. Had he never done so, the Chief Conservator would never have approached the Ministry of Forests to issue a Death Order. And had the Death Order not been issued, one hesitates to think of how many other innocent human lives would be lost to the savage depredations of the man eating tiger.

An avid hunter and sportsman… General Hasan had previously shot several Indian Royal Bengal tigers (9 he told me) for sport in the Terrai region of West Bengal in Siliguri, Darjeeling during the 1950s and 1960s (before India banned the killing of Royal Bengal tigers in 1969). It had always been his dream to hunt a Royal Bengal tiger in the Sundarban mangrove forests, because the Royal Bengal tigers of the Sundarbans had acquired a fearsome reputation for being far more dangerous than their Indian counterparts. The General publicly declared on the local newspaper that he would be the one to rid Atharobeki of the notorious man eater. The locals had every reason to be confident in his hunting prowess. In 1987, the General (and Mr. Sitesh Das, manager of Sagar Nal Tea Estate) had successfully managed to dispatch a huge 1500 Kilogram Gaur bull in Maulvi Bazar (near Bangladesh and India’s Zero Line, which was still unfenced at the time) which had gotten mad and begun to attack tribal Shawtaal villagers (killing 10 of them in the process). His heroic actions had earned the General great notoriety and everybody felt certain that the General would effortlessly take down the man eater of Atharobeki, as well.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I immediately told the General that all of the resources of the Sundarban Department of Forests would be available to him and his men, for the duration of their tiger hunting expedition in the Sundarbans. The General (who had never previously hunted a MAN EATING Royal Bengal tiger or one which inhabited the Sundarbans) eagerly asked me for some advice on how to proceed. He had been told by his colleagues that no greater authority on hunting man eating Royal Bengal tigers in Bangladesh existed, than the great “Tiger Habib”. I immediately assured him that this was nothing of the sort. And that I had previously succeeded in killing the 2 man eating Royal Bengal tigers in 1981 and 1988, only due to a combination of sheer luck and logistical support from my men. Nevertheless, I tried to give the General the best advice I could think of.

I warned General Hasan that the methods which he had previously used in India to hunt Royal Bengal tigers in 1950s and 1960s would not work on a Royal Bengal tiger in the Sundarban mangrove forests… and certainly not one which had turned man eater. The 3 main methods used in India to hunt Royal Bengal tigers in the past (namely conducting beats, using live baits or stalking on foot) would never produce a successful hunt in the Sundarbans. Anybody who has ever visited the Sundarbans will immediately learn that the forest is basically a series of thousands of tiny islands dispersed across what may best be described as a very very big marsh. Thousands of canals run through the entirety of the forest and into the Bay of Bengal. This terrain makes it practically impossible to have men conduct beats or to stalk a Royal Bengal tiger on foot by following it’s pug marks. Using a cow or a goat as live bait would not work in enticing a Sundarban tiger because the mangrove forests were already abundant with Axis deer and Bengal bush boars. Rather, seeing a cow or a goat tied to a tree in the middle of the forest was bound to alert the Royal Bengal tiger and make them feel suspicious.

I advised the General that the most efficient means of dispatching a man eating Royal Bengal tiger in the Sundarbans… was to wait for it to make a natural kill on either a human being or a domesticated farm animal (invariably a head of cattle) and partially feed on the carcass. Then, the General was to have a macchan built to overlook the kill-site (taking care to disguise the structure as part of a tree) and climb on top with one reliable companion. The General was to be armed with a heavy caliber rifle, while the companion was to carry a powerful torchlight. When the man eater would return to complete feeding on the carcass, the companion would turn the torchlight on and the General would only see the tiger’s 2 glowing eyes. The General would then only have roughly 2 seconds to make an educated guess as to where the animal’s chest was and pull the trigger. If the man eater made off into the forest after getting shot, then under no circumstances was the General or his companion to get down from the macchan until sunrise. The General felt quite confident in his hunting skills and was quite sure of his impending success. He assured me that the next time I would hear from him, he would relate to me the exciting tale of how he had dispatched the man eater of Atharobeki.

General Hasan was an extremely powerful and influential gentleman. He was one of the only 2 people in Bangladesh, who owned 7 firearms licenses under his own name. And what fine firearms they were. During his various foreign missions overseas, he had collected some of the most expensive firearms of American and English and Continental European make which he could set his sights on. He owned 3 shotguns: A 12 bore ( 3 1/2 inch Super Magnum chamber) Mossberg Model 835 Ulti-Mag multi-choke pump action, a 12 bore (3 inch Magnum chambers) Browning Model B-25 fully choked sideplated Over/Under and a 12 bore (2 1/2 inch chambers) James Purdey sidelock ejector side by side with a 1/2 choked left barrel and a 1/4 choked right barrel. He owned 3 rifles: A .404 Jeffery caliber magazine rifle built by Cogswell & Harrison on a Pattern-14 Enfield action, a .22 Hi-Power caliber Savage Model 99 lever action and a .22 Long Rifle caliber Voere semi automatic. He also owned a gold plated .32 ACP caliber Walther PPK semi automatic pistol.

He packed all of his 7 firearms with him and took along 30 of his most fearless sepoys (who were all issued with 7.62x39mm caliber Chinese SKS semi automatic rifles), before departing off to Atharobeki on the Forest Queen (along with a dozen of my most experienced forest guards including old Pachabdi and his brother). Accompanying the General, was Major Poton Khan (who was the Supervisor of the Bengal Ordinance Factory, at the time). Upon arriving at Atharobeki, the General sent me a telegram that the man eater was about to encounter his worst nightmare. I had full confidence in the General and was quite sure that he would succeed.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Roughly 6 weeks later, the General returned to my Khulnaoffice… extremely frustrated. “Habib” he told me “This is no mere tiger. This is the devil itself!”. Quite taken back, I asked General Hasan what went wrong. The general told me everything.

For almost 40 days, the General and his sepoys tried their level best to hunt down the man eater. They tied several cows to trees all over different parts of the Atharobeki forest range , hoping that the man eater could be enticed towards the baits. Whenever the tiger was killing a human victim and partially feeding on the corpse, the General would have a macchan constructed to overlook the kill-site. The General would then wait on top of the macchan with a dozen of his sepoys, all of them ready to ambush the tiger the moment it would return to complete feeding on the remainder of the human corpse. The General would stay ready with his prized .404 Jeffery rifle (loaded with 4 RWS 400 grain round nosed steel jacketed solid cartridges) and half of his sepoys would stay ready with their 7.62x39mm Chinese rifles (loaded with 123 grain Full Metal Jacket military ball cartridges), while the remaining 6 sepoys manned a powerful spotlight (which was operated by a car battery).

However, in the last 6 weeks… the General and his sepoys were not even able to catch a glimpse of the man eater. Finally, the disheartened General followed the advice of his increasingly disgruntled sepoys and was forced to abandon the hunt. What made matters worse, was that in the last 6 weeks… The tiger had racked up his kill count of human beings to 58. In the history of Bangladesh, I do not believe that any other man eating Royal Bengal tiger has been credited with killing so many human beings as the man eater of Atharobeki.

Hearing the General’s account of how events had transpired, I immediately understood why he was unable to even catch a glimpse of the man eater. I had already previously explained to him that using live baits as enticement would never work on a Sundarban tiger (and that too, a man eater). Why the General chose not to pay heed to my warning, was beyond me. Moreover, when hunting a man eating Royal Bengal tiger… It is imperative that one must have as few companions as possible. Even having 2 companions to accompany you, is ill advised. When waiting to ambush a Royal Bengal tiger at night, the total hunting party should not consist of more than just 2 people- 1 person to hold the shotgun or rifle and 1 person to hold the torchlight. The more people one has around them while lying in wait to ambush a Royal Bengal tiger, the more difficult it is to keep all of them silent. And if my dear readers will recall the incident of the first man eater which I had successfully shot in 1981, then they will remember how I initially failed to shoot the animal on multiple occasions… simply because the tiger was getting alerted by the faint sounds of Rashid coughing. I can already imagine the amount of immense noise which a dozen sepoys must have been making on General Hasan’s macchan. The man eater of Atharobeki must have been readily alerted by their presence.

Before General Hasan left my Khulna office, he turned to me and urged me to go try my hand at hunting down the man eater. “Habib” he said “Perhaps, this striped bastard is destined to die by your hand”. I sat down and pondered about what to do, for awhile. I was hoping that I was done with shooting man eaters, once and for all. I had a political career to advance and I did not want to risk my life anymore, by pitting my skill against wild beasts. But 58 local villagers were dead because of this Royal Bengal tiger, and nobody else was stepping up to do something about the problem. Brigadier General Hasan had failed to end the man eater’s barbaric rampage, despite his most sincere efforts. And Pachabdi Gazi had made the disheartening declaration, that the terrain where this particular man eating Royal Bengal tiger was operating … was completely ill-suited for setting up any potential gun-traps. I knew that if I did not personally take matters into my own hands and do something, then even more innocent people were going to die.

I was still quite conflicted about what to do, when I decided to make a phone call to Mustapha’s residence and discuss the matter with him. The telephone was answered by Mustapha’s sobbing wife, and she gave me a most heartbreaking news. Mustapha had been killed by the man eater last month.

I felt quite overwhelmed with grief by hearing this. It was young Mustapha who had accompanied me faithfully during my previous hunts for the 2 man eating Royal Bengal tigers which I had shot in 1981 and 1988. On both occasions, Mustapha had held the 5-cell torchlight while I had fired at the tigers at night. His steady hand and his fearlessness, was surpassed only by his dedication to duty and his ability to keep a level head during stressful situations. He was one of the finest forest guards to ever serve under my administration.

His death ignited a burning rage in me. I resolved that I would not rest until I had personally ended the life of the man eater of Atharobeki.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

But before departing off into the Sundarbans, I decided that I was going to take some preparations. I had shot my previous 2 man eating Royal Bengal tigers with my 12 bore Sikander shotgun (loaded with Eley Alphamax L.G cartridges) and while each of the animals had succumbed to just a single shot… the hunts had been anything but smooth. The first man eater had succumbed to his injury more than 7 hours after I had shot him. During this time, he had made multiple attempts to attack me and Mustapha. The second man eater had succumbed to his gunshot wound more than 4 hours after I had shot him.

To make matters worse, that cheap Pakistani Sikender shotgun had a very serious mechanical problem. The ejector was always prone to overriding the rims of expended cartridges, thus jamming the weapon after every firing and forcing me to use a knife blade to pry the empty cartridge out. On average, it would take me about 30 seconds to get the shotgun ready for reloading again. This almost always occurred during my bird hunting activities and also when I had hunted those 4 crop damaging Muntjac stags at Kaptai. More disconcertingly, it had occurred every time I had fired upon a man eating Royal Bengal tiger with the weapon (in 1981, 1987 and 1988).I rationalized that I was repeatedly tempting fate by using such a faulty weapon against game as dangerous as man eating Royal Bengal tigers. I had gotten miraculously lucky before but one day or another, I knew that my luck would run out and I could probably get killed.

I was convinced that the appropriate tool for hunting a Royal Bengal tiger was not a shotgun, but a large caliber rifle. And I had absolutely no faith in the 7x57 mm Mauser caliber Churchill rifle which the Sundarban Department of Forests had in their armory. The weapon was in terrible condition and was very poorly maintained. The wooden stock had split and all of the metal parts were deeply pitted. The barrel’s rifling was very badly worn through and could not accomplish a 3 inch grouping at 30 yards. I thus, resolved to head to Dacca first and purchase a new rifle for myself. In 1982, I had already purchased a .22 Long Rifle caliber BRNO Model 2 bolt action rifle for hunting cranes and doves. But it goes without saying, that attempting to shoot a Royal Bengal tiger with a .22 Long Rifle caliber weapon would be a very painful method of committing suicide. When I went to Dacca… I visited the infamous gun shop “Shikar O Shikari” which was owned by renowned hunter and businessman, Mr. N. Benu.

Mr. Benu was a true gentleman and his affable personality was surpassed only by his extreme knowledge of firearms. In 1986, he had very generously gifted Pachabdi a beautiful Belgium made 12 bore (2 3/4 inch chambers) R.B Rodda & Co. double barrel side by side back action hammer shotgun (with a fully choked left barrel and a 1/2 choked right barrel) along with a box of 25 plastic cased Eley Alphamax L.G cartridges… which Pachabdi eventually used to set up the gun-trap that would finally dispatch the man eater of Talpotti in 1987. He also frequently gifted Pachabdi Eley Alphamax #8 cartridges, which Pachabdi used for hunting golden snipe for the larder. It was infact, Pachabdi who had referred me to Mr. Benu.

When I told Mr. Benu that I needed a good quality large caliber rifle and a supply of fresh reliable cartridges, Mr. Benu immediately told me that he had just the thing I was looking for. He showed me 2 bolt action rifles in 7x57mm Mauser caliber. The first was a Parker Hale Safari Model rifle. The second was a Churchill Gunmakers Model Deluxe rifle. Both of these rifles (as well as a number of BRNO ZKK-600 rifles in 7x57mm caliber) were imported into Pakistan as parts in the mid to late 1960s, where they were locally assembled and stocked by Dosal Armory in Karachi. 10 Churchill brand 7x57mm Mauser rifles had been imported into Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) by the East Pakistani Rifle Club in 1967. No doubt the Churchill brand rifle which Mr. Benu was showing me, was one of those 10. While the Parker Hale brand rifles had never been exported into East Pakistan, I speculated that the one which Mr. Benu was showing me must have been privately purchased by a hunter who traveled to (West) Pakistan and brought it back as part of his personal luggage prior to the Liberation War in 1971.

I asked Mr. Benu which of these 2 rifles was more reliable and he immediately raised up the Churchill Model Deluxe. I examined the weapon and operated the bolt. It was truly a magnificent well balanced weapon and the action cycled as smooth as silk. After a little healthy bargaining, Mr. Benu let me have the rifle for a very reasonable sum. At the time, he had a dozen Winchester Super X 175 grain soft nosed cartridges in his inventory and I purchased all of them.

Pachabdi’s Old Shotgun (With Which He had Dispatched The Man Eater Of Talpotti in 1987) Now On Display At A Local Museum

Pachabdi Gazi (Left) Showing Mr. Benu (Right) The Hide Of His 56th Man Eating Royal Bengal Tiger (1972)

The Author’s 7x57mm Mauser Churchill Gun Makers Model Deluxe, Used For Shooting The Man Eater Of Atharobeki

The Author With His (Then) New 7x57mm Mauser (1989)

 

[Hunter-Habib]

With my new 7x57mm Mauser rifle in my possession, I headed to the Buri Goalini forest range. I also brought along my 12 bore Sikender shotgun and my .32 ACP Webley Model 1921 pistol, as well as an abundant stock of cartridges for both of these firearms. Upon my arrival at Atharobeki, I immediately assembled a a team of seasoned forest sentries to assist me in my quest for hunting down the man eater. I also learned that this Royal Bengal tiger was going to be far more difficult to hunt, than the man eaters which I had shot in 1981 and 1988. This tiger was not targeting cattle at all. It was exclusively targeting human quarry to feed on.

This meant that I could not use the methods which I employed on the first 2 man eaters (i.e waiting to ambush them when they would return to feed upon the partially eaten carcass of a bullock which they had previously killed), to hunt the man eater of Atharobeki. This left me with only one option. I had to patrol all of the canals around Atharobeki in a speedboat, hoping that some fortunate miracle would eventually befall me and I would cross paths with the man eater by chance. I was mentally prepared to spend the next few months aimlessly patrolling the canals of Atharobeki on a speedboat, before I finally got lucky.

But the miraculous thing is that I would unexpectedly get my chance just 4 days later. It happened quite by accident.

The “Forest Queen” was anchored at the edge of the main river, while I was on a forest department speedboat patrolling the various canals around Atharobeki. Accompanying me, was the boatman and 4 forest sentries (whom I had issued with .303 caliber Lee Enfield rifles). Laying beside me, was my 12 bore shotgun (loaded with a plastic cased Eley Alphamax L.G cartridge) and my .32 ACP pistol (loaded with 8 GECO 73 grain Full Metal Jacket cartridges) was in my pocket. In my hands, was my new 7x57mm Mauser rifle (loaded with 6 Winchester soft nosed cartridges in the magazine) and I had the 6 extra cartridges in my breast pocket.

As the speedboat was passing one particular creek at 5:00 PM, I noticed an elderly fisherman who was peacefully catching fish with his fishing rod on his dinghy sail boat. The gentleman saw me and waved at me from his sail boat, so I smiled and waved back from our speed boat. But as our speedboat was passing the area, my eyes suddenly picked up on some signs of movement on the river bank. Taking a pair of binoculars from my boatman, I decided to take a closer look. And sure enough, right there crouched on the edge of the riverbank… was a large male Royal Bengal tiger.

The animal was stealthily watching the sail boat, cunningly observing the unsuspecting fisherman’s every move. A normal Royal Bengal tiger would go well out of his way to avoid man, but not a Royal Bengal tiger which had turned man eater. Those kinds would be the ones to silently stalk human beings. I immediately knew that the animal which I was looking at, was none other than the man eater of Atharobeki. And he was definitely planning to attack the elderly fisherman, either by waiting for the fisherman’s boat to get moored at the riverbank or by directly swimming out to reach the sailboat. I had to act fast if intended to save the fisherman in time.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I instructed my boatman to stealthily drive the speedboat towards the edge of the riverbank and moor it against the riverbank in such a way, so that the speedboat would be 70-80 yards away from where the man eater was crouched. As he did so, I flipped off the safety catch on my 7x57mm Mauser and sat down on the deck of the speedboat. As the speedboat got moored against the edge of the riverbank, I raised the rifle to my shoulder. Right at that moment, something went wrong.

My boatman had turned off the motor of our speedboat, and all suddenly went quiet. The man eater immediately became alerted by the sudden silence. He turned and spotted the speedboat. By seeing us, the tiger attempted to dash off into the depths of the forest. As he turned to run off, his broadside was exposed towards me and I seized my only chance. Hurriedly lining up the rifle’s front sight and rear sight, I made a desperate shot at the at the animal’s ribcage behind his shoulder. Upon receiving the shot, the animal leapt up in pain and fell tumbling down onto the green forest floor. He stood back up again, but it was clear that the 175 grain Winchester Super x soft nosed bullet had hammered him very badly. I had previously shot 2 man eating Royal Bengal tigers with a shotgun and L.G cartridges, but never did I ever observe either of them to react so visibly to their gunshot wound. Clearly, a 7x57mm Mauser caliber rifle superseded a 12 bore shotgun for hunting the great cats any day.

The tiger was now slowly growing at us while retreating into the depths of the forest. His entire broadside was wet with warm blood, copious amounts of which were dripping onto the ground. The man eater was violently coughing blood, while I cycled the bolt of my 7x57mm Mauser in order to extract the expended cartridge case and get the next cartridge from the magazine into the rifle’s breech. But before I could raise the rifle to my shoulder and give the man eater a finishing shot, the resilient tiger bounded off into the depths of the forest. I regretted not giving him a second shot sooner, as it would have allowed me to drop the man eater then and there… killing him outright.

I immediately got down onto the riverbank, hellbent on pursuing the wounded man eater and ending him then and there. I ordered my men to check their .303 caliber rifles and to get down from the speedboat. With a great deal of hesitation (which was completely understandable given the immense dangers which spooring a wounded man eating Royal Bengal tiger naturally entails), they slowly and apprehensively stepped onto the riverbank. As we began to cautiously move forward in the direction which we had seen the wounded tiger take off, we kept on hearing his savage roars of pain which was increasingly getting less loud- a crystal clear sign that the man eater was moving further and further away into the depths of the mangroves. But upon looking at the massive blood trail which the animal had left behind, I observed that the blood was extremely frothy- a clear sign that my bullet had struck the man eater in one of his lungs. Death was now inevitable and the tiger would not live for more than a few hours. I decided to give him time to die.

My men and I turned to make our way back to the speedboat. By now, the elderly fisherman (who had suddenly gotten alarmed by hearing the loud report of my 7x57mm Mauser rifle) realized exactly what was going on and had brought his dinghy sail boat close to our forest department speedboat. The grateful man was quick to thank me for saving him from almost certain death. I told him that I was just doing my duty and that he should go home for the day, as things could be getting very dangerous quite soon. We returned to the speedboat and I ordered the speedboat to return to our launch. Once on board the deck of the Forest Queen, my men and I decided to eat our supper and (since the sun had already begun to set) get a good night’s rest before spooring the wounded man eater’s blood trail first thing at dawn.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

At 6:00 AM next morning, I once again got down onto the canal bank…This time accompanied by 25 forest sentries from the launch. I was carrying my 7x57mm Mauser in my hands, while my forest sentries were armed with their standard issue .303 caliber Lee Enfields. We began to take up the blood trail of the wounded Royal Bengal tiger and all of us advanced cautiously. At roughly 5:50 PM, we found him lying still in a ditch under some Goran trees… surrounded by a massive pool of frothy blood. I ordered 2 of my forest sentries to cautiously approach the animal and pelt him with rocks, while the other forest sentries and I stood at the ready with our rifles poised. If we detected the slightest signs of movement, then we were to immediately open fire.

These precautionary measures proved to be rather superfluous, because the man eater of Atharobeki was indeed no more. Judging from the rate of decomposition of the Royal Bengal tiger’s carcass (and the distance he had gone from where I had first shot him), it was estimated that be succumbed to the gunshot wound an entire day after I shot him.

A postmortem revealed that my Winchester Super X 175 grain soft nosed bullet had broken through the great cat’s scapula, penetrating into the right lung of the tiger and tearing open a massive wound cavity. The animal eventually succumbed to his injuries, by suffocating on his own blood. The postmortem also revealed to us why the Royal Bengal tiger had developed such pathologically homicidal tendencies towards human beings. In the animal’s brain, we found a large number of maggots which had no doubt caused some serious brain damage to the striped feline. Even though he had killed and eaten a jarring number of 58 human beings, I could not help but feel an iota of pity for the poor creature. Having maggots move around in one’s head slowly eating away at different parts of the brain, is no doubt a hellish phenomenon. Nature truly is cruel.

And that, dear readers… was how I dispatched my final man eating Royal Bengal tiger. To the best of my knowledge, the Royal Bengal tigers which I had shot (in 1981, 1988 and 1989) were 3 of the only 4 man eating tigers to have been legally killed in the Sundarban mangrove forests after the country became independent in 1971. And as far as I am aware, the man eater of Atharobeki was the very last Royal Bengal tiger (or indeed, ANY endangered animal) for which the Ministry of Forests had issued a Death-Order (as of this time of writing in 2022).

Amongst my fellow hunters, I admit that I became something of a celebrity. 3 of the only 4 man eating Royal Bengal tigers to be legally killed in the Sundarbans (with the other one being the man eater of Talpatti which Pachabdi had dispatched by setting up a gun-trap in 1987) had died by my hand. And each of them were felled with only a single shot. But the raw truth is that I was no great hunter or fearless hero. I had only succeeded due to a combination of luck and very good logistical support from the Sundarban Department of Forests. I got the first 2 man eaters by exploiting their natural kill-sites. And I happened upon the final man eater by PURE CHANCE. I never shot a charging Royal Bengal tiger and only ever hunted the final man eater on foot. Not once was I able to drop any of the man eaters which I had shot at, on the spot. The first one died 7 hours after I had shot him. The second one died 4 hours after I had shot him. And the final one died an entire day after I shot him.

By reading these 3 chapters, my dear readers will have their attention drawn towards the numerous mistakes I had also made while going after man eating Royal Bengal tigers. Indeed, I do not consider myself to be particularly talented in the field of hunting the great cats. Sometimes, I still look back at my actions and find myself wondering… exactly how did I manage to hunt down 3 Royal Bengal tigers without any prior tiger hunting experience ? And how did I manage to get away doing all of this ABSOLUTELY UNSCATHED?

Clearly, someone from above was looking out for me.

The Author (Left) & Pachabdi Gazi (Right) At The Lobby Of The Buri Goalini Forest Range Office, On The Day That The Hide Of The Man Eater Of Atharobeki Was Submitted To The Department Of Forests (As Per Government Policy) (1989)

The Fangs Of The Man Eater Of Atharobeki, Which The Author Was Permitted To Retain


THE END

End Of An Era

 

[gillettehunter]

I always enjoy these types of stories. Congrats on your success. Thanks for sharing.
Bruce

 

[mark-hunter]

In the animal’s brain, we found a large number of maggots which had no doubt caused some serious brain damage to the striped feline.

Fantastic story, Hunter Habib!
Thanks for sharing!

Do you know what kind of magots are those? How animal gets infected? Any info?

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I always enjoy these types of stories. Congrats on your success. Thanks for sharing.
Bruce

Why, thank you, Bruce.

 

[Custom]

Great story! Thanks for posting.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Fantastic story, Hunter Habib!
Thanks for sharing!

Do you know what kind of magots are those? How animal gets infected? Any info?

Dear Mark.
The phenomenon is called “Myiasis” and it frequently occurs on Royal Bengal tigers in the Sundarbans. Tigers have no sense of smell and when they return to complete feeding on a partially consumed/temporarily abandoned kill (such as an Axis deer which needs 2 feedings), the carcass of their kill is usually infested with these maggots by then (larvae from flies). While the tiger is having it’s second feeding, sometimes maggots manage to get onto the tiger. After that point, they settle in the nearest orifice of the animal (i.e ear holes, open wounds, nasal cavities, etc). I have also found such maggots in the brain of a bull elephant I shot in Zimbabwe.

If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

 

[JimP]

I would love a book on this after reading your accounts.

One suggestion, and I have never written a book before is to contact a publisher and talk to them about it. Perhaps get a recording device and tell your stories and have someone else type it up.

You might even contact someone else on the forum here and learn the process. The only member on the forum here that comes to my mind that has written a book is Sue Tidwell

Good luck

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Great story! Thanks for posting.

Why, thank you, Custom.

 

[PerH]

Exellent story ,and lot of struggles it was to stop the pain the great striped had.

 

[Mort Hill]

Bravo my friend! Please, please, please find the motivation to finish that book! If not just for your followers here on AH!

 

[Mats Bergholm]

At 5:00 PM, I once again got down onto the canal bank…This time accompanied by 25 forest sentries from the launch. I was carrying my 7x57mm Mauser in my hands, while my forest sentries were armed with their standard issue .303 caliber Lee Enfields. We began to take up the blood trail of the wounded Royal Bengal tiger and all of us advanced cautiously. At roughly 5:50 PM, we found him lying still in a ditch under some Goran trees… surrounded by a massive pool of frothy blood. I ordered 2 of my forest sentries to cautiously approach the animal and pelt him with rocks, while the other forest sentries and I stood at the ready with our rifles poised. If we detected the slightest signs of movement, then we were to immediately open fire.

These precautionary measures proved to be rather superfluous, because the man eater of Atharobeki was indeed no more. Judging from the rate of decomposition of the Royal Bengal tiger’s carcass (and the distance he had gone from where I had first shot him), it was estimated that he succumbed to the gunshot wound roughly 3 hours after I had shot him.

A postmortem revealed that my Winchester Super X 175 grain soft nosed bullet had broken through the great cat’s scapula, penetrating into the right lung of the tiger and tearing open a massive wound cavity. The animal eventually succumbed to his injuries, by suffocating on his own blood. The postmortem also revealed to us why the Royal Bengal tiger had developed such pathologically homicidal tendencies towards human beings. In the animal’s brain, we found a large number of maggots which had no doubt caused some serious brain damage to the striped feline. Even though he had killed and eaten a jarring number of 58 human beings, I could not help but feel an iota of pity for the poor creature. Having maggots move around in one’s head slowly eating away at different parts of the brain, is no doubt a hellish phenomenon. Nature truly is cruel.

And that, dear readers… was how I dispatched my final man eating Royal Bengal tiger. To the best of my knowledge, the Royal Bengal tigers which I had shot (in 1981, 1988 and 1989) were 3 of the only 4 man eating tigers to have been legally killed in the Sundarban mangrove forests after the country became independent in 1971. And as far as I am aware, the man eater of Atharobeki was the very last Royal Bengal tiger (or indeed, ANY endangered animal) for which the Ministry of Forests had issued a Death-Order (as of this time of writing in 2022).

Amongst my fellow hunters, I admit that I became something of a celebrity. 3 of the only 4 man eating Royal Bengal tigers to be legally killed in the Sundarbans (with the other one being the man eater of Talpatti which Pachabdi had dispatched by setting up a gun-trap in 1987) had died by my hand. And each of them were felled with only a single shot. But the raw truth is that I was no great hunter or fearless hero. I had only succeeded due to a combination of luck and very good logistical support from the Sundarban Department of Forests. I got the first 2 man eaters by exploiting their natural kill-sites. And I happened upon the final man eater by PURE CHANCE. I never shot a charging Royal Bengal tiger and only ever hunted the final man eater on foot. Not once was I able to drop any of the man eaters which I had shot at, on the spot. The first one died 7 hours after I had shot him. The second one died 4 hours after I had shot him. And the final one died 3 hours after I had shot him.

By reading these 3 chapters, my dear readers will have their attention drawn towards the numerous mistakes I had also made while going after man eating Royal Bengal tigers. Indeed, I do not consider myself to be particularly talented in the field of hunting the great cats. Sometimes, I still look back at my actions and find myself wondering… exactly how did I manage to hunt down 3 Royal Bengal tigers without any prior tiger hunting experience ? And how did I manage to get away doing all of this ABSOLUTELY UNSCATHED?

Clearly, someone from above was looking out for me.

THE END
View attachment 528201
End Of An Era

Fantastic stores!

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I would love a book on this after reading your accounts.

One suggestion, and I have never written a book before is to contact a publisher and talk to them about it. Perhaps get a recording device and tell your stories and have someone else type it up.

You might even contact someone else on the forum here and learn the process. The only member on the forum here that comes to my mind that has written a book is Sue Tidwell

Good luck

That sounds like a great idea, Jim.