A tiger prowling near villages in northern India killed its 10th person in six weeks, a day after eluding a trap set by hunters with a live calf as bait. 
 
 The female tiger is believed to have strayed from Jim Corbett National Park, India's oldest national park, which was established in 1936 to provide endangered Bengal tigers with safe territory. 
 
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 The big cat's latest victim was a 50-year-old man who was collecting firewood Sunday night in the forest outside Kalgarh village in Uttarakhand state, according to Saket Badola, deputy director of the national park. 
 
 The animal ate parts of the man's leg and abdomen before being scared away by villagers waving shovels and metal rods. 
 
 According to the Times of India, experts suspect the attacker was a different tiger, a male who may have previously killed a woman in the area Jan. 14. 
 
 "There is thick forest in intervening area between Sunday's kill and the one that took place on Thursday," Bivash Pandav, a wildlife biologist with Wildlife Institute of India, told the paper. "This forest is populated by tigers. It's unlikely, although not impossible, that the tigress would have traversed through territories of other tigers to get to the Kalagarh spot." 
 
 "We are not rushing to any conclusion," Corbett field director Samir Sinha said. "Our priority would be to establish the identity of the tiger. We are placing camera traps in the area to get pictures. Besides, forest staff would try to gather more information by patrolling on foot and on elephants." 
 
 Hunters had almost nabbed the tiger a day earlier with a bovine calf. 
 
 "On Saturday night the tigress almost fell in trap and was close to the calf," Badola said. "But she did not attack the bait and left silently." 
 
 Reports that a killer tiger was on the loose began circulating Dec. 29, when a 65-year-old man was mauled in Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh state, across the border from Uttarakhand. Since then, thousands of terrified villagers have been told to watch out for the animal and to avoid the forests. 
 
 The tiger has been on the prowl across an area spanning some 80 miles. 
 
 "The animal has started attacking humans because it is not getting its natural prey," said Rupek De, chief wildlife warden of Uttar Pradesh. "The tigress must be tired because it is not getting adequate rest." 
 
 He said the hunters hired to kill the animal were having trouble tracking it in dense forests. The team also was understaffed; only three of the six hunters hired for the job showed up for work, De said. 
 
 De said he asked wildlife officials in Uttarakhand for help, saying there seems to be lack of co-ordination. 
 
 On Sunday, angry villagers seized a national forestry office, demanding protection and compensation for the families of the dead. 
 
 "We can understand the predicament of the villagers," Badola said. "The villagers do not have toilets in their homes. They go out in the open or forest areas to answer nature's call. In this scenario it is difficult to give protection to each and every villager. We have advised them to move in groups." 
 
 India's wild tigers are considered endangered because of rampant poaching and shrinking habitat as India undergoes breakneck development to accommodate the staggering growth of its 1.2 billion people. 
 
 India today has more than half of the 3,200 tigers estimated to be left in the wild. Despite dozens of tiger reserves across the country, however, the numbers have sunk from an estimated 5,000-7,000 in the 1990s, when the big cats' habitat was twice as large. 
 
 The Associated Press contributed to this report. 
 
 Click for more from TimesofIndia.com. ||||| NEW DELHI: Yet another person was killed by a tiger late Sunday morning, some 20-25km from the spot where the west Uttar Pradesh man-eater tigress made its last kill three days ago. The death was reported from inside Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand and experts suspect the attacker was a different tiger, a male who may have previously killed a woman in the area on January 14.At least nine people have been killed by tigers in UP and Uttarakhand in the past month-and-a-half, seven to eight of these attributed to the man-eater tigress.Corbett National Park's field director Samir Sinha said the attack took place between 11 and 11.30am near a road that links the main Kalagarh dam on Ramganga river with the saddle dam in the core reserve area. The victim, Ram Charan, 45, was a worker for a contractor with the irrigation department. He was travelling in a vehicle with the contractor and they had stopped on the way. Ram Charan went into the forest for some reason, perhaps to relieve himself, when the tiger struck."People rushed to his rescue on hearing his screams. But he was dead by the time they reached him," Sinha said, adding that an ex gratia relief of Rs 3 lakh would be given to the deceased's family.As the crow flies, the spot is around 15km from the site of the UP man-eater tigress's last kill in Sahuwala forest range of Bijnor district on Thursday night. But experts say it's unlikely that the UP man-eater was behind the latest death though the possibility cannot be ruled out."There is thick forest in intervening area between Sunday's kill and the one that took place on Thursday. This forest is populated by tigers. It's unlikely, although not impossible, that the tigress would have traversed through territories of other tigers to get to the Kalagarh spot," said Bivash Pandav, a wildlife biologist with Wildlife Institute of India."We are not rushing to any conclusion," Sinha said. "Our priority would be to establish the identity of the tiger. We are placing camera traps in the area to get pictures. Besides, forest staff would try to gather more information by patrolling on foot and on elephants," he added.
– Yet another villager died by tiger-attack in northern India yesterday, and officials are trying to figure out just how many tigers are out there eating people, Fox News reports. The new victim—the 10th in 6 weeks—was a 50-year-old man collecting firewood when the tiger ate parts of his leg and abdomen. Villagers scared it off with metal rods and shovels, but it was too late. "People rushed to his rescue on hearing his screams," park official Samir Sinha told the Times of India. "But he was dead by the time they got there." More than one killer tiger may be emerging from Jim Corbett National Park, which was set up in 1936 to give endangered Bengal tigers a safe place to live. "We are not rushing to any conclusion," said Sinha. "Our priority would be to establish the identity of the tiger." Reports of a killer tiger have been circulating since a 65-year-old man was killed in December, and villagers are so fed up that they seized a forestry office yesterday—but nothing has changed as yet. Hunters nearly captured a tiger Saturday night with a live calf as bait, but the animal got away.