Champawat Tiger

The Champawat Tiger was a female Bengal Tiger shot in 1907 by Jim Corbett. It was responsible for 436 documented deaths in Nepal and the Kumaon area of India mostly during the 19th century.^[1]

After having killed over 200 people in Nepal it was driven by the Nepalese Army across the border (river Sarda) into India, where it continued its activities in the Kumaon District. It was so bold that it roamed the roads outside villages, roaring and terrorizing the villagers. All the killings were done during the daytime.

The tigress had made a kill (a 16 year old girl) the day it was shot by Jim Corbett. A post-mortem on the tigress showed the upper and lower canine teeth on the right side of its mouth were broken; the upper one in half, the lower one right down to the bone. This was the result of an old gunshot.

In Champawat town, near to the Chataar Bridge and on the way to Lohaghat, one can see a "cement board" marking the place where the tigress was finally brought down. However, the exact place where the tigress was killed by Jim Corbett is closer to the present location of the Hydroelectric powerhouse about 1 km (0.62 mi) from the "cement board".

The details about the Champawat Tigress and how it was brought down can be found in the book titled Maneaters of Kumaon (1944) authored by Jim Corbett himself. This is the first story of the book.

References

1. ^ Stephen Mills (2004). Tiger. Firefly Books. p. 99. ISBN 978-1552979495. OCLC 57209158. 

Further reading

• Mills, Stephen (2004). Tiger. Firefly Books. ISBN 978-1552979495. OCLC 57209158. 
• Corbett, Jim (1944). Man-Eaters of Kumaon. Bombay: Oxford University Press. http://www.archive.org/details/maneatersofkumao029903mbp. 
• Mason, Paul (2007). The world's most dangerous animals. Chicago: Raintree. ISBN 978-1410924858. 
• Mishra, Hemanta; Ottaway, Jr, Jim (2010). Bones of the Tiger: Protecting the Man-Eaters of Nepal. Globe Pequot. ISBN 978-1599214917.