A fisherman yesterday bravely survived an attack by a man-eating Royal Bengal Tiger, fighting a halfhour battle with the predator in the deep forest of the Sundarbans.

Sources said Abu Taleb, 50, son of Faizullah Sardar of Tengrakhali village of Shyamnagar upazila, went along with his two brothers to the river Kalindi in the Sundarbans for catching fish fry on April 26, after securing permission from the Forest Department. Finishing their job, the three were attacked by a Royal Bengal Tiger when they reached near their boat.

Abu Taleb struggled with the tiger for half an hour as the two others escaped the scene. Later, however, the tiger abandoned the fight when the victim's two brothers, Abdullah Sardar and Abdul Malek, returned. Family sources said Abu Taleb was seriously injured in the head, hands, chest and back. He was immediately taken to Shyamnagar upazila health complex and was later shifted to Satkhira sadar Hospital as his condition deteriorated.