Bagerhat: A lion-hearted young man returned home alive after fighting with a Royal Bengal Tiger in the Sundarban on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old named Masum, son of Abdul Jalil of Uttor Rajapur village in the upazila, was admitted to Sharankhola upazila health complex with the tiger’s paw marks all over his body.

Masum’s brother Zahidul Haoladar said he and Masum ventured into Shela river through the world’s biggest mangrove forest with a boat to catch fish around 9am after taking permission from Dhansagor station, reports the UNB.

The tiger swooped on Masum taking his right arm into its mouth, Masum then kicked the dangerous beast as if it was a minor deal, prompting the tiger to bite on his hand.

The adult 10-foot tiger with best of its ability rushed him to the woods where the man and the beast played a cruel game, a scuffle, it seems an effort of taking life from each other.

Witnessing the brave show-off there,  Zahidul along with four fishermen chased the tiger that drove it possibly mentally subdued. Adding to the fear, Zahid hit the tiger with a stick, forcing it to flee from the scene and hide in the forest to rather save itself.

Later, the fishermen took him to Sharankhola Health Complex where duty doctor Ripon Nath said Masum’s injury could have been fatal but wasn’t. He is out of danger.

According to DFO Md Mahamudul Hasan of Sundarbans East Division, the tigers claimed 35 lives in between 2001 and 2018 in the forest.