Pugmarks
In the Sundarbans, pugmarks are not just tiger tracks but warnings, signs, and reminders that humans walk on borrowed ground. For the Bonojibis — people who fish, collect honey, or gather firewood — reading pugmarks is essential for survival.
If fresh pugmarks appear on the muddy creeks, they leave immediately, conceding the path to the tiger. To ignore the sign is to invite death. Some even offer Salam to the tracks, acknowledging the tiger’s presence as both sacred and dangerous. The jungle is not theirs — it belongs to more than humans.
Generations of Bonojibis have developed the ability to read pugmarks with precision: telling the age, sex, and intent of a tiger, even judging if it carries prey. Scratch marks on trees signal territory. Deep prints in mud tell of weight and hunger.
Still, knowledge cannot erase risk. Since 2000, about 300 people have died in tiger attacks here. Coexistence is fragile. Respect is not optional, and human-tiger conflict remains a daily reality.
The pugmarks article:
Based on The Daily Star, Bangladesh.
Photo via The Daily Star.
