The Champawat Tigress - Part 2

When Corbett arrived in the village (Fungar, near Champawat town) where the tigress had most recently struck, he found the place seemingly deserted, with any remaining residents locked inside their homes in fear. For a week, they had huddled together indoors while the tigress roamed about at will, letting out the occasional triumphant roar. In both her old haunts and new, locals were too afraid to even go to work, preferring to starve in their own homes than be devoured.

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Jim found and followed a trail of fresh blood, from a 16 year old girl named Premka Devi, but was unable to locate the tigress after pursuing her all day. He managed to organize around 300 villagers to conduct a beat (where teams of hunters methodically comb the forest, making as much noise as possible to drive the tiger into the open) in the Champ River Gorge the next day. The beat proved successful, and Corbett shot her dead around noon. He found both upper and lower canines on one side of her mouth had been broken, due to an old gunshot wound. The expert hunter concluded that these injuries had made her unable to bring down her natural prey, and instead had to turn to people for food - her killing spree likely being the result of the kind of irresponsible sport hunting that Corbett despised. When Jim brought the beast down, he became an instant legend and folk hero to people all over the district. All told, the Champawat tigress was responsible for an estimated 436 deaths!