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· Diamond Bullet Member and the Revered Sir Jim
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The Top 5 Man-eaters
The Champawat Tigress - 436 victims
Panar Man-eater (Leopard) - 400 victims
Leopard of Rudraprayag - 125 victims
The Lions of Njombe - 1,000 victims
Tsavo Lions - 140 victims

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The Champawat Tigress
From 1900 to 1907, a tiger went on the worst killing spree ever recorded, attacking and killing 436 people. It started its reign of terror in western Nepal in 1900, where it killed 200 villagers. After it was driven out of Nepal by a massive beat by thousands of villagers, it settled in Champawat, India, where it killed another 236 people. The tigress was eventually killed by the famous game hunter, Jim Corbett.

Examination of the tigress showed that she had extensive damage to her teeth, which Corbett speculated would have prevented her from hunting her natural prey.

Corbett reports that on his arrival at the site of the tigress' last victim, a 16-year-old girl out gathering firewood, he found the village in a state of abject terror, the streets deserted. The villagers had locked themselves in their huts and no one had ventured out in a week, still terrified by the roars of the tigress who continued to prowl around the village. Corbett tracked the tiger from the site of its last attack, following the tracks through blackthorn bushes, still draped with "long strands of the girl's raven-black hair" (see Man-Eaters of Kumaon (Oxford India Paperbacks) by Jim Corbett, page 17). Here he found a part of the victim's leg: "I have not seen anything as pitiful as that young comely leg bitten off a little below the knee as clean as though severed by the stroke of an axe," Corbett wrote. He was alerted to the presence of the tigress by loose dirt rolling down a steep embankment in front of him. He then shot and killed the tigress, ending her deadly reign. Today, a stone plaque marks the village and gives details of how Corbett tracked the tigress down and finally killed her.

Panar Man-eater
"If the leopard were as big as the lion, it would be ten times more dangerous. Once it becomes accustomed to human flesh, the leopard exhibits an almost diabolical cunning." John Taylor, professional big-game hunter.

Leopards also can become man-eaters, and when they do so, they can prove even more lethal than tigers. The deadliest leopard of all was the Panar man-eater, which operated in Panar province, a remote area in central Kumaon in northern India. This big male leopard is reputed to have killed 400 people. The leopard was killed by Jim Corbett in 1942. Jim Corbett noted that tigers were typically responsible for only daytime human kills, while those at night were normally the result of a leopard attack. Also, tigers hunt from cover, and will not usually enter a settlement or even a tent to attack victims. Leopards, however, will roam freely through a settlement and even tear down a door to get at a victim.

Leopard of Rudraprayag
Between 1918 and 1926 in Rudraprayag, India, some 125 people were killed by the "Leopard of Rudraprayag". It stalked and killed pilgrims en route to Hindu shrines in northern India. The leopard eluded a succession of traps and bullets, but was finally killed by Jim Corbett. It was found to be a very old leopard and may have originally come from a menagerie. In the same region in the previous century, between 1857 and 1860, another leopard known as the Kahani man-eater is said to have killed over 200 people.

The Lions of Njombe
In 1932, in Tanzania near the southern town of Njombe, a pride of 15 lions began a spate of human killings. It took 15 years to track down and kill all 15 lions from the pride, and by this time around 1,000 people had been killed. An interesting feature of these attacks was that there was no obvious reason why the pride began their attacks on humans. The cats were healthy, and there was plenty of alternative prey in the Njombe region.

Tsavo Lions
“One dark night the familiar terror-stricken cries and screams awoke the camps, and we knew that the ‘demons’ had returned and had commenced a new list of victims. The alarm was at once given, and sticks, stones, and firebrands were hurled in the direction of the intruder. All was of no avail, however, for the lion burst into the midst of the terrified group, seized an unfortunate wretch amid the cries and shrieks of his companions, and dragged him off through the thick thorn fence. He was joined outside by the second lion, and so daring had the two brutes become that they did not trouble to carry their victim any further away, but devoured him within thirty yards of the tent where he had been seized.”
~ Source: Lieutenant-Colonel J. H. Patterson, The Man-Eaters of Tsavo (London: D. S. O. MacMillan and Co., Ltd., 1919), page 64.

In March 1898, two large male lions began to attack railway workers at the Tsavo River in East Africa where a railway bridge was being built by the British. Over the next 9 months, the lions killed and ate nearly 140 people, causing hundreds of workers to flee Tsavo, and halting construction on the bridge. The Chief Engineer, Lt. Col. John Henry Patterson (1865–1947), had to eliminate the lions and their threat. He eventually shot and killed the first lion on December 9, 1898. Three weeks later, he brought down the second. The first killed lion measured nine feet and eight inches from nose to tip of tail. Although male, both lions were maneless, a common trait for lions in the Tsavo region.
 

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I have been fortunate enough to obtain a complete set of Corbetts writings....a most amazing man.Interesting enough he killed many of his man eating Tigers and Leopards with a Rigby Mauser .275 (7x57) Corbetts Jungle Lore book is very informative.I believe that I read somewhere his man eater kills tallied over 10,000 victims.
 

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Nice read Lakes...I didn't see my ex-wife there though
 

· Diamond Bullet Member and the Revered Sir Jim
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Discussion Starter · #7 ·
She was at a knife sharpening seminar taught by my ex-wife to stab the next poor fool in the heart.
 

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She was at a knife sharpening seminar taught by my ex-wife to stab the next poor fool in the heart.
HAHHAHA... My ex stuck with me til the kids were grown then turned into the bride from the river styx! ..such is life...
 

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Due to this thread, I am borrowing the complete works from a buddy next week. I have turned down 3 trips to Africa overthe last few yrs from a buddy, but now I really want to go.
 

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Just got into corbetts works, and I am hooked by the first one.
 

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I believe he used a double rifle for the tigress...

View attachment 521222 This is Jim Corbett's .275 Rigby rifle with presentation plate (Amazingly they got the name wrong!) This rifle saved a lot of lives as in was instrumental in destroying many man eaters ,with of course Corbett behind the trigger.
I remember seeing an illustration of an oil painting that was part of an old book I read about Corbett in my youth.
The painting shows him killing the Champawat Tigress with a double rifle.
I remember he had to fire twice and the illustration shows and his own testimony (at least in the book) states that the tiger was in full charge down the embankment (more like a cliff) and the second shot "turned" the animal enough to barely miss Corbett. It subsequently tumbled off the narrow pathway into a deep ravine.

Thanks for stirring a childhood memory! Hopefully one of the books being discussed is indeed the book I read in my youth, if so please someone share the title!
 

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I think the tigress was shot twice with 450 and missed once, then he got the rifle from someone with him and put the last shot in her leg due to the sites. what a great story.
 

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Something I found online

A man eating tiger was shot by Nawab Shafath Ali Khan using a .458 mag on 24th Feb, 09 in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. The tiger had terrorised the area for 4 months after killing 5 people and injuring several others. The tiger had strayed of Pilibhit jungles in November 2008 and travelled over 400 km to reach the jungles of Faizabad two months ago. On the way, it killed two men in Pilibhit, one in Barabanki, and two in Faizabad.

It was declared a maneater after it killed a boy in Barabanki in December 2008, but the order was revoked after protests from wildlife organisations and environmentalists. It was again declared a maneater after it killed a man in Faizabad on January 9, 2009. The last man it killed was a forest guide, Raghu Raj, on January 15. On two occasions, the forest officials claimed to have shot the big cat — on February 7 and 17 — but on both occasions their claim was proved wrong. On Tuesday, 24th Fe.2009, however, its luck ran out.

The maneater tiger prowling in the jungles of Faizabad for over two months was killed on 24th Fe.2009. It was shot dead by Nawab Shafat Ali Khan of Hyderabad, an expert shooter called for the purpose.

Khan fired three bullets from his 458 calibre Winchester Magnum rifle, hitting the tiger in the shoulder and the head and killing it on the spot. Faizabad District Forest Officer OP Singh said: “Nawab Shafat Ali Khan, authorised by the Union government to kill the maneater, shot dead the animal in Bakchula forest outpost area.”

Early on that day morning, the tiger attacked and killed a cow in Bakchula village, on the periphery of the Kumarganj forest range. Khan said: “Since the cow was half-eaten, I was sure that the tiger would come again to eat its prey. I waited the whole day on a scaffolding on a nearby tree.” The animal returned to the spot around 6 pm.

“After spotting the tiger, I fired and hit his right shoulder. After getting hit, the tiger charged towards me but I fired two more bullets, the second when he was just three feet away from me, and it hit the tiger in the head,” he added.

Jim Corbett Park is another wild life sanctuary where man eating tigers are roaming. And the forest department officials are after these man-eaters but are not able to spot them.
 

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