The Man-Eating Tigers of Sundarbans [Hardcover]

Sy Montgomery (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Along the Bay of Bengal between India and Bangladesh stretches a strange and beautiful flooded forest. This enchanted forest is called the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve and is home to more tigers than anywhere else on earth. There are said to be some five hundred tigers here. Nowhere else do tigers live in a mangrove swamp. And nowhere else do healthy tigers routinely hunt people. Yet about three hundred people are killed each year by the tigers of Sundarbans. No one knows why. The Man-Eating Tigers of Sundarbans is a mystery story, but it is also a story about science and myth, about people and tigers, and about different ways of seeing the natural world. Sy Montgomery traveled to Sundarbans searching for answers to the mysteries surrounding these tigers. She listened to what scientists had to say about the unusual tiger behavior and to the stories of the villagers who revere the very animals who hunt them.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 5-9-These unusual creatures of the Sundarbans-a mangrove forest stretching along the Bay of Bengal in India and Bangladesh-really do hunt and eat humans. Montgomery invites readers to journey with her to the region to better understand these elusive animals. "And here you-leave cars behind. You can get to the tigers' forest only by boat." She introduces several knowledgeable residents who describe their experiences. The author also explains many aspects of the rapid loss of the world's tiger population, the little understood behavior of this region's tigers, the lives and beliefs of local people, and the special features of the habitat and its role in supporting a chain of animal life. The largely conjectural knowledge of the tigers is handled carefully, but the lack of immediacy may tax the patience of readers expecting the more dramatic encounter with tigers suggested by the title and cover photo. The mysterious creatures are well concealed by the mangroves, and the few appearing here in handsome photographs are actually in captivity. There are also fine views of other animals, the natural setting, and the people. Montgomery's personal enthusiasm and knowledge extend nicely into the book's informative concluding elements that include fast facts, a glossary of Bengali phrases, a list of related organizations, and comments on the photographs.-Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-7. The author of the acclaimed Snake Scientist (1999) has spun off this title from her 1995 adult book Spell of the Tiger, but this oversize volume has clearly been written with young people in mind. It immediately captures attention with fresh, engaging writing that turns a scientific study into a page-turning mystery. Montgomery carefully sets the place: a flooded forest called the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve, which runs along the bay dividing India from Bangladesh. The tigers living there, unlike most tigers, prey on people--and most of their victims are men. Montgomery, who took four trips to Sundarbans, first introduces normal tiger behavior, then takes readers right into the heart of the tiger reserve and surrounding areas. She offers the scientists' take as well as the villagers' perspective, concluding that folktales and religious beliefs about the tigers can be just as true as what science has to say. Interestingly, for an oversize, glossy book, the color photographs aren't the drawing card. In fact, tigers are often missing from the sometimes pedestrian photos (no doubt, as Montgomery explains, because the animals are extremely hard to see). It's the text, with as many questions as answers, that excites, as a fascinating topic meets a talented storyteller. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (February 26, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618077049
• ISBN-13: 978-0618077045
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 9.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #640,134 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

"Part Emily Dickinson, part Indiana Jones," as the Boston Globe has called her, Sy Montgomery has been chased by an angry silverback gorilla in Zaire and swum with piranhas and pink dolphins in the Amazon. To research her books, films and articles, she has worked in a pit swarming with 18,000 snakes in Canada and been hunted by a tiger in India. She has hiked the Altai Mountains of Mongolia's Gobi desert in search of snow leopards and penetrated the cloud forests of Papua New Guinea to radio collar tree kangaroos. No place is too far to go to bring animals' true stories to adults and children around the world.

Th author of the national bestseller, The Good Good Pig, as well as 15 other celebrated nonfiction books, Montgomery writes for print as well as broadcast in an effort to reach as wide an audience as possible at what she considers a critical turning point in human history. "We are on the cusp of either destroying this sweet, green Earth or revolutionizing the way we understand the rest of animate creation," she says. "It's an important time to be writing about the connections we share with our fellow creatures. It's a great time to be alive."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Majestic Beasts, August 31, 2003

By 

"mobby_uk" (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Man-Eating Tigers of Sundarbans (Hardcover)

Men's fear and fascination of monsters have been with us since the dawn of time, and while the imagination of our forefathers was the main source for describing these beasts under the sea, up the snowy mountains or deep in the jungle, our technological and scientific age helped us to unravel a lot of these mysteries,and sadly bringing a lot of nature's animals to the brink of extinction in the process.
Yet, this fascination, and apprehension remain with us to this day.
While Jaws was responsible for keeping a lot of people out of the water for a while, me included, the portrayal of the great white shark was too over sensualized to be scientifically accurate, something author Peter Benchely tried desperately to redress years later.
The man eating Lions of Tsavo, were real yet a rarity in the history of man against 'beast, a historical incident that was all but forgotten, to be revived later with the film Ghost and Darkness.
Yet there is another animal out there, and most specifically in the Sundarban region of India, bordering Bangladesh, who also feasts on people each year, and who very little is known about, a mystery as dense as the region it inhabits,(one of the last true wilderness in the world,) the majestic tiger.
And to that end, Sy Montgomery has done a wondeful job in investigating this elusive animal, writing a unique book of its kind, that is part natural history, part detective story.
The Sundarban tigers are unlike any tigers in India, or in the world. They regularily attack humans, even snatching people from boats in the middle of the river.They are both feared and revered by the locals as creatures of divine power/source(a phenomenon that in itself has allowed many wild animals to coexist in relative peace with humans)
However, the plight of the tiger is one tragic story, (some subspecies extinct while others following suit in an alraming speed) and the impression I got from Montgomery's book is not one of fear, although there are some scary moments in the book,tracking the elusive tiger, but one of respect for this beautiful creature. An impression that convinced me these attacks were against people going inside the tiger's territory, invading its lair, as opposed to the well documented cases of man-eating leopards and wolfs that boldly invade human's territory.
Saving the Tiger at all costs is another impression I got from this book, a need that becomes ever more pressing, realizing the relenteless onslaught from loss of territory or poaching the tiger faces every day.
By all account buy this book, and I guarantee you too will be fascinated by the story of when that beautiful animal do what it is instinctively programmed to do to survive.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a great book to give to my youngest grandchild, May 12, 2009

By 

Tara Lawrence-Stuart "not carmen in sandiego" (San Diego, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Man-Eating Tigers of Sundarbans (Hardcover)

I have already read (and eventually bought )"Spell of the Tiger" also by Sy Montgomery, and notice she wrote this one with illustrations for young people. When I (age 71!) began to read it, it was like a ride on the boat and a walk in the Sunderbans itself. Sy certainly would enthrall a young reader. She describes the Sunderbans and the men and women who live daily with danger. She tells how the people do not hate, though they fear, the tiger, whom they honor as a god. Without the tiger, the forest would not exist. They believe the tiger is protector of the forest, and he is. I highly recommend the book and hope it is a success. The illustrations are beautiful, depicting the Bangladeshi and Indian peoples in a respectful and loving way, especially Girindra and Rathin and their wives.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Limited Text, March 1, 2008

By 

Luis Leyva Navarro "Pepe Leyva" (Guadalajara, Mexico) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Man-Eating Tigers of Sundarbans (Paperback)

I love Tigers and everything about it. About this book, I was surprised to read it in less than an hour, it looks like a very short book or a phamphlet. The content it is ok but the title suggest information and documentation on man eaters, but instead is a shallow review of the general situation. I love sundarbans but no recommend this book.