Flushed out of their natural habitat and deprived of food by floods and Cyclone Sidr, the famed Royal Bengal tigers that roam these mangrove forests is desperately on the prowl.

At least 11 people, including two from a single family, have been killed in tiger attacks in the past month in the Munsiganj area of Satkhira district adjoining India’s West Bengal state.

Villagers in the marshy forests of the Sunderbans which spread across Bangladesh and India beat drums and light fires all night to keep tigers away.

Locals say the reported death toll of 11 in Munsiganj is conservative, as there is no way to keep count of the woodcutters and fisher folk who fall victim to the big cats.

A tiger was trapped and beaten to death last month after it killed three people in a village, media reports said. Villagers now stand guard in groups at night as they fear that the dead tiger’s female partner might invade the village any time for revenge. "Tigers cross the river (Chunkuri) very often to prey on humans," an official said.

Locals believe once a tiger tastes human blood, it gets addicted to it.