When the doctor at the SSKM Hospital in the city inserted his gloved finger inside the wound to gauge the depth, he was in for a shock. Not only did his finger disappear fully, there was still some room left beyond.
The wound Fatik Haldar carried on his right shoulder measured one of the canines of a Royal Bengal Tiger that wanted him for its lunch on July 2 in the Sunderbans.
Fatik survived because in an opportune moment he landed a mighty kick on the soft underbelly of the tiger. The latter, surprised at the intrusion, decided to drop its prey and perhaps wait for a second time.
To save himself, Fatik seized the opportunity with all the energy he could summon. He could flee, helped by others who later brought him to the city hospital for treatment.
Around the same time when Fatik was attacked, another fisherman in another corner of the forest was killed by a tiger.
The incidents, getting frequent in recent times, show that in Sunderbans the fight between man and tiger for survival is becoming intense.
As succinctly pointed by the TOI in its July 3 report, it’s perhaps only in the Sunderbans that the man, despite being the deadliest predator, does not occupy the top slot in the food chain.
Fatik’s photo on the left is taken from TOI.
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