Within a fortnight, three such incidents have taken place, the latest being reported from Ambikanagar in South 24 Parganas where a tiger attacked a woman while she was collecting crabs from Beniphuli canal along with other womenfolk of her village.

Earlier, there were similar incidents reported from Kultali and Jharkhali.

Gayatri Sardar has been admitted at Kolkata’s SSKM hospital with severe head and shoulder injuries.

“She is out of danger but her condition is not stable,” said Prof Ashok Ghosh, Superintendent and Vice-Principal of SSKM.

According to senior forest officials, a tiger strays out of its habitat when it is old or not fit enough to hunt in the wild and therefore looks out for easy prey in the human settlements.

On February 17, a pregnant tigress had strayed into Kultali.

After being attacked by people, the big cat had to take refuge on a tree. Forest officials finally rescued the tigress.

“A particular type of vegetation is found in wilderness which resembles the paddy crops. Often during the paddy season, the tiger strays out into the villages confusing the paddy crops for forest growth,” said wildlife expert Dipak Mitra.