Shrinking habitat due to climate change and last year's cyclone Sidr in coastal Bangladesh forced the famed Royal Bengal Tigers to migrate into the Indian side of the Sundarban Islands. The rising tiger attacks clearly indicates this trend causing suffering to the local people in the deltaic region, reports Soudhriti Bhabani .

More Wildlife Man and the man-eaters Horn of death

Mangol Naiya, a 22-year-old crab-catcher in the Sundarban Islands on the Bay of Bengal, was mauled to death by a tiger in Benipheli forest in November this year. He went to the forest along with his brother Shankar and mother Panchami searching for their daily livelihood.

While leaving a creek, Naiya was dragged by the tiger from the boat. His family immediately raised an alarm and few other fishermen who were there nearby the area rushed to the spot.

They chased the big cat and almost after half an hour the tiger left the body and soon disappeared into the deep forest. By then, Mangol was dead.

It is an example of a perilous contact between the man and man-eater in West Bengal's mangrove swamp – Sundarbans, where humans are often falling prey to the beastly attacks of tigers.

The result has been a sharp rise in the number of reports of tiger attacks, especially after the cyclonic Sidr last winter which left behind a trail of devastation killing over 3,000 people and uprooting a large area of the mangrove forests in Bangladesh. It also forced the famed Royal Bengal tigers to migrate into Indian side of the Sundarbans in search of food and natural habitat.

With the multiplying attacks, it is a familiar story for thousands of people in the Sundarbans who strive to survive under daunting circumstances.

"I tried to stop my husband Putul last time when he was venturing into the Matla river to catch crabs. But he didn't pay any heed to my words and headed off despite my repeated appeals," Anita Nashkar, 22, said clutching to her 18 month-old daughter Priyanka in arms.

Mindful of recent attacks, she said: "Putul promised me he would be back in a few days and also asked me to take care of our newborn. That was the last time I spoke to him."

"Two days later, I came to know a tiger dragged my husband away into the heart of the Benipheli forest where the other member of the fishing boat dared not follow."

Panchali Mandal, 24, of Deulbari was another victim of tiger attack. She was sitting mutely in an earthen cottage .It was just a few months back that her husband Sanjay Mandal, 30, went into forest for fishing and did not return.

Panchali is now left with three children, aged between eight months to 11-years, and has no idea how she will take care of them. "I don't know what to do now. He's left me in dire trouble," she said in a chocking voice.

Like Anita and Panchali, there were several other widows at Deulbari village - located on the edge of the mangrove forest – who gathered with the hope if they share their horrifying tale with the media the government might offer them some rehabilitation package or compensation for their children.

To these hapless widows, educating their children and providing them with regular sustenance in the remote fringe of Sundarbans is a Herculean task.

The official figures provided by the Sundarban Tiger Reserve (STR) shows that only a dozen deaths took place in the area last year. However, the villagers' account suggest the figure as much higher.

In Deulbari alone, a small village of 4,000 people, there have been six deaths this year.

According to Sundarban villagers, in the last decade more than 50 people from this particular village by the Matla river were killed in tiger attacks. Locals say the number of attacks have risen dramatically this year in Sundarbans, with at least 15 already.

The Sunderbans is perhaps the only place in the world where man is not on top of the food chain. The tiger's predatory instincts clash with human nature constantly in the deltaic region, leading to a deadly battle for survival between the two.

It is a vast area covering 4,262 sq km, including a mangrove cover of 2,125 sq km, in India alone. The larger portion lies in Bangladesh. The forest is the world's largest mangrove reserve and one of the most unique ecosystems in South Asia, recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It's a part of the world's largest delta formed by the rivers Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna. The whole tract of forest reaches inland for about 100-130 km from the confluence.

Experts say the swelling tiger attacks indicate that the big cats have crossed over from Bangladesh where the cyclone destroyed much of their habitat.

"A vast area of mangrove forests was affected by that natural disaster leading to a serious displacement of wild animals including tiger and crocodiles," Debasis Chakrabarti, wildlife activist and People for Animals (PFA) managing trustee said.

He says rising water level is another problem for the big cats to survive in this mangrove forest.

In the past two decades, four islands of the Sundarbans - Bedford, Lohachara, Kabasgadi and Suparibhanga - have sunk into the sea and 6,000 families have been displaced from their villages.

There are three other islands - Dalhousie, Bhangadoyani and Ghoramara - which are at present under serious threat due to climate change. Almost 20 percent of both Dalhousie and Bhangadoyani and over 60 percent of the Ghoramara island have already been affected by rising water levels in the Sundarbans.

"In a period of past few months, almost seven fishermen were killed in an area called Netidhopani," reveals Pranabes Sanyal of the World Conservation Union who also teaches at Jadavpur University 's department of oceanographic studies.

"Owing to global warming, the fragile Sundarbans lost 28 percent of its habitat in the last 40 years. A part of it is the core tiger reserve area from where their prey migrated."

Sundarban villagers pass through tiger territory on boats to fish in the sea or to collect honey in forest areas as they are left with limited options to get their livelihood in the region.

The loss of land has created thousands of environmental refugees in the area. Since the first settlements in 1770, the overall population of the Sundarbans has risen 200 percent to nearly 4.2 million.

According to reports available, the average rate of sea level rise at Sagar point is 3.14 mm per year while this figure is 5 mm at Pakhiraloy point near Sajnekhali in the Sundarbans. Both these figures are much higher than the global average of 2 mm per annum.

A study also points out that the Sundarbans would lose another 15 percent of its total habitable land, displacing more than 30,000 people by 2020.

The rise in sea level also threatens the tiger population here. The core tiger habitat areas are Dalhousie and Bhangadoyani, which are gradually going under water, forcing tigers to migrate from southern to northern Sundarbans near Sudhannakhali and Sojnekhali.

Once home to 500 tigers in the late 1960s, the Sundarbans may only shelter between 250 and 270 tigers now, wildlife officials say. According to the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, the number is as low as 75.

A century ago. there were about 40,000 tigers in India. A government census report published this year says the tiger population has fallen to 1,411, down from 3,642 in 2002, largely due to dwindling habitat and poaching.