The list of big cat man-eaters show that they lived at a time when there were more big cats; thrust together as they were with people. Almost all took place in India and Bangladesh (Sunderbans). And almost all were the result of a big cat being disabled in some way and therefore unable to prey on animals, its normal diet. Sometimes the cat was disabled by earlier gunshot acquired before the cat turned to man-eating.
Modern 21st century examples of man-eating tiger attacks frequently take place in the Sunderbans, a tiger reserve where people also live. Tigers “prefer to avoid people and generally give them a wide berth”. Tigers attack from behind. If people wear face masks on the back of their heads attacks are much reduced.
Here is a tabled list of big cat man-eaters.
I am thankful to Wikipedia. All text quoted verbatim is allowed under the Wikipedia creative commons license. The quote above is from the aclaimed “Wild Cats Of The World by Mel and Fiona Sunquist, ISBN-13:978-0-226-77999-
