Ep 13. Isle of the Lost Tiger

In "Isle of the Lost Tiger," the thirteenth and final episode of MonsterQuest's third season, viewers are taken to the Sundarbans region of Bangladesh and India, where the elusive and deadly Bengal tiger is said to prowl one of the most dangerous places on Earth: a vast network of interconnected mangrove forests, swamps, and waterways where the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers meet the Bay of Bengal. The tigers of the Sundarbans are known to be especially large, aggressive, and skilled at hunting aquatic prey, but it's their legendary taste for human flesh that has earned them a fearsome reputation and sparked decades of official efforts to track, capture, and kill them.

The episode begins with a look back at some of the most notable tiger attacks in the region, including the shocking case of a man-eating female tiger named "Durga" who killed at least 13 people in 2017 before being shot dead by forest rangers. We also meet a team of scientists and conservationists who are working to better understand the tigers' behavior, habitat, and genetics in order to develop more effective strategies for protecting both human and tiger populations.

One of the main goals of the researchers is to accurately estimate the number of tigers living in the Sundarbans, which is notoriously difficult due to the dense vegetation, tides, and shifting sandbars, as well as the constant threat of crocodiles, snakes, and other hazards. To do this, they use a combination of camera traps, audio recordings, and DNA analysis to identify individual tigers and track their movements over time.

As the team navigates deeper into the heart of the Sundarbans, they encounter a wide range of other animals, including macaques, otters, monitor lizards, and even a rare and endangered river dolphin. But at the same time, they must always be on guard against potential tiger attacks, which can come without warning and with lightning speed. To illustrate just how fast and deadly these predators can be, the researchers demonstrate a simulation that shows a tiger pouncing on a human dummy in just a few seconds.

Despite the dangers, the team persists in their mission, painstakingly collecting data and samples from the tigers they encounter. Along the way, they also learn more about the unique adaptations that allow these cats to thrive in such a challenging habitat, such as their webbed paws, acute hearing, and affinity for swimming and fishing. They also come across evidence of the ongoing conflict between humans and tigers, including abandoned fishing nets and traps set by poachers hoping to catch the rare and valuable pelts of the big cats.

Eventually, after weeks of fieldwork, the team manages to capture one of the elusive tigers in a specialized trap designed to immobilize it without causing harm. With the help of local forest rangers, they carefully extract DNA samples, measurements, and other vital data before releasing the tiger back into the wild. The hope is that by gathering this information and sharing it with others, they can help to protect both the tigers and the people who share their habitat.

In contrast to some of the more speculative and sensational episodes of MonsterQuest, "Isle of the Lost Tiger" is primarily a documentary-style exploration of real-world science and conservation efforts. While there are still some elements of dramatic tension and danger, the focus is on learning and discovery rather than attempting to capture definitive proof of the existence of some monstrous creature. As such, it stands as one of the more grounded and informative episodes of the series.