KILLING A TIGRESS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume VI, Issue 36, 6 September 1890, Page 18

KILLING A TIGRESS.

The notorious Jounsar man-eating tigress has at last been killed by a young forest officer. This tigress has been the scourge of the neighbourhood of Chakrata, India, for the last ten years, and her victims have been many. On one occasion she seized one of a number of foresters who were sleeping together in a hut, carried him off, and made him over to her cubs to play with, and then stood by and watched their gambols. The ghastly tragedy was witnessed by some of the poor man’s companions who had sought refuge in a tree. The tigress called her cubs in a cat-like and self-compla-cent manner, and soon the young tigers were romping about and rolling over the apparently lifeless body. She then lay down a few yards off, and with blinking eyes watched the gambols of her progeny. In a few moments the man recovered himself, sat up and tried to beat the young brutes off. They were too young to hold him down, so he made a desperate" attempt to shake himself free, and started off on a run ; but before he had gone twenty yards the tigress bounded out and brought him back to her cubs. Once more the doomed wretch had to defend himself from their playful attacks. He made renewed attempts to regain his freedom, but was seized by the old tigress and brought back each time before he had gone many yards. His groans and cries for help were heart-lending ; but the men on the trees were paralyzed with fear, and quite unable to do anything to assist their unfortunate comrade. At last the tigress herself joined in the gambols of her cubs, and the wretched man was thrown about and tossed over- her head exactly as our domestic cat throws rats and mice about before beginning to feed on them. The man’s efforts to escape grew feebler. For the last time his comrades saw him try to get away on his hands and knees towards a large fig-tree, with the cubs clinging to his limbs. This final attempt was as futile as the rest. The tigress brought him back once again, and then held him down under her forepaws, and deliberately began her living meal before their eyes. It was this formidable beast that a young Cooper’s Hill officer and a companion attacked on foot. They were working up a trail, fifteen yards apart, when suddenly the officer heard a cry of alarm from his comrade. He ran up just in time to see the young man borne to the ground by the tigress. The officer fired and shot the beast in the spine, and a second ball gave her her quietus. The young man whom she attacked was seriously bruised, but will recover from his injuries.