The Tamil Nadu forest department is searching for a suspected maneater tiger after the partially eaten body of a Toda tribesman was found near the Chinnagadamund tribal settlement in the Nilgiris on February 24. This is the second suspected maneater killing since a woman grazing cattle was attacked and killed by a tiger near Masinagudi, also in the Nilgiris, on November 24.
Tamil Nadu is no stranger to human casualties in encounters with wildlife (522 deaths in the past 10 years, mainly due to elephants), but tiger attacks are extremely rare. The two fatal tiger attacks reported in 2025 may seem small compared to the 43 nationwide but point to a major shift in the human-tiger dynamic occurring in the state as well as the broader South.
Disparate observations point to this shift. In the past six months, south India has seen an increase in tiger sightings in areas that were not previously considered high-density habitats. Last month, a tiger was spotted on the fringes of Hyderabad, the first sighting there in more than 50 years. There has also been an uptick in cattle kills in or near farmlands, inevitably accompanied by an increase in tiger-human conflict incidents, including maneater attacks. Alongside, there are reports of a record number of tiger deaths due to territorial competition, particularly in Kerala (13) and Tamil Nadu.
The State of India's Environment (SOE) report for 2026, released by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) last week, attributes these observations to saturation in tiger reserves, which is forcing young adults and ageing tigers towards human habitations. It says the most significant trend of 2026 is the movement of tigers away from reserves to farmland.
The report throws light on some interesting behavioural adaptations among tiger populations as a result of this phenomenon. Because natural prey are scarce in such areas, tigers are turning to cattle and thus adapting to a more diurnal hunting pattern in sync with cattle grazing times. This not only puts them into contact with farm workers during the day and gradually brings about a change in dietary patterns as well. This adaptation, plus the loss of a fear response towards humans due to more frequent contact, points to a frightening possibility: How much longer will the old adage, that only aged and sick tigers become maneaters, hold?
Another tiger adaptation reported by SOE relates to the growth of the invasive species Lantana camara. Introduced as an ornamental plant, lantana shrubbery now dominates agriculture-adjacent wild lands in Tamil Nadu and the rest of the South. It has replaced grasses that once used to be forage for wild herbivores but serves as ideal cover for predators like tigers. This enables cattle-stalking and therefore portends increased human contact.
Forest officials in Tamil Nadu are alive to these adaptations. In one initiative against lantana shrubbery in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, plants are being crushed and compressed into eco-friendly fuel briquettes for use in heating and cooking, replacing coal in the tea industry. This seems sensible at first glance, but a question to consider is whether it is wise to incentivise the growth of an invasive species. What if farmers take to cultivating it, as they have done with marijuana in some parts of the South? Everyone adapts, tigers as well as humans. The environment does not have to have economic side benefits.