BANGALORE: Tigers are getting too close for comfort: three human deaths in five days have once more brought the man-animal conflict into focus.Statistics with TOI show the state has seen 30 human deaths since April this year. While 23 were killed in elephant attacks , the rest succumbed to attacks by tigers, leopards, wild boars and bears. In the same period, around 300 head of cattle were killed by wild animals.A senior forest official said 2013-14 is set to see even higher number of casualties due to this conflict. “We’ve crossed just half the year, and the numbers are scary,” he said.Among the 13 forest circles in the state, Bangalore Circle — comprising Ramanagaram , Bangalore Urban, Bangalore Rural, Bannerghatta National Park, Kolar and Chikkaballapur forest divisions — tops the list in terms of human casualties: 10 people were killed in the past eight months. Bangalore is followed by Madikeri, Chamarajnagar and Mysore circles.Mysore Circle — comprising Bandipur Project Tiger division and Hunsur Wildlife Sanctuary — tops in cattle casualties, with 119 cases, followed by Canara and Hassan circles. Forest and wildlife experts say proper understanding of the man-animal conflict is needed to tackle the situation.MORE ANIMALS, LESS SPACENaveen K S, an environmentalist , said a growing population of elephants and tigers, shrinking forest cover and increasing human disturbance is opening up more spaces for the conflict. “On Sunday, a cow was killed by a leopard, and elephants have been camping on the outskirts of Mysore and Tumkur over the past few days. Each wild animal needs to be tackled differently ,” he added.Dinesh K, another forest expert, said linking forest reserves would go a long way in providing larger space for animals like tigers to move around whenever their numbers go up. Increasing awareness on conservation among tribals and villagers living on forest fringes will also go a long way in tackling the conflict , he added.Ajai Misra, director of Project Elephant and additional principal chief conservator of forests, said the department is studying conflict zones over the years and specific solutions are being implemented. As in the case of the man-elephant conflict zone in Hassan, efforts are gradually on to translocate jumbos to elephant camps, he added.