A Bengal tiger strolling through the Sundarban mangrove wetlands along the India-Bangladesh border.
Wildlife experts are warning that rising sea level due to global warming is driving India’s Sundarban tigers out of their mangrove habit into surrounding villages, where attacks on humans are on the increase.
"In the past six months, seven fishermen were killed in an area called Netidhopani," Pranabes Sanyal of the World Conservation Union told Reuters.
The Sundarban wetlands along the India-Bangladesh border are slowly being eroded by the rising tide.
This means that the tigers’ most common prey, such as crabs, fish and crocodiles, is shrinking.
Attacks on livestock and humans are increasing as the big cats seek alternate prey, according to wildlife experts.
A combination of poaching and loss of habitat has brought the number of tigers down from about 500 in the late 1960s to between 250 and 270 currently, according to wildlife officials.
Photo: Stock