Study analyzes danger of parasites to Bengal tigers in South Asia

Researchers across Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan have documented widespread parasitic infections in Bengal tigers, with fecal sampling in the Sundarbans finding an 85.3% infection rate among tigers, higher than in monkeys, deer or wild pigs. Species identified include roundworms, hydatid worms, liver flukes and tapeworms, several of which also infect humans and livestock.

Scientists say the parasites rarely kill healthy tigers outright but become dangerous when animals are already weakened by injury, age or insufficient prey, causing anemia and reduced hunting ability that can push tigers toward easier targets like village cattle. Studies in Nepal's Chitwan National Park and Maharashtra point to the same underlying driver: human settlements and livestock pressing closer to tiger habitat, creating shared water sources and pastures where pathogens cross between species.

A 2018 case in Bhutan, where a tiger died of a human tapeworm infection likely linked to contaminated water or food near Thimphu, illustrates the extreme end of this exposure. Wildlife health experts note that poaching and prey scarcity remain the tigers' bigger threats, but describe the parasites as a slow, compounding drain that worsens as habitat buffers shrink.

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