60-Year-Old Woman Mauled To Death By Tiger

In a shocking incident, a 60-year-old woman in India was mauled to death by a tiger when she went to a forest along with other women to collect fodder for cattle.

The woman, identified as Indira Atram, had gone inside the Porla forest range in Maharashtra along with eight village women Tuesday, NDTV reported. While the women were cutting grass, the feline pounced and attacked Atram. Initially, the tiger attempted to drag the woman deeper into the forest. But as the other women started shouting, the tiger let go of the victim and fled.

The women accompanying Atram were able to get her out of the forest but she succumbed to her injuries.

Kishore Mankar, the conservator of forests, told Hindustan Times that Atram’s body was sent for an autopsy to determine the cause of death. The forest department said it will provide some compensation to the victim’s family.

In a similar incident, a tigress killed a 46-year-old forest ranger while she was surveying with a group on foot inside the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra last week. The ranger and her group decided to take a detour after encountering the big cat. Their movement alerted the cat and it followed the group. The tigress then attacked the woman and dragged her inside the forest. Authorities were able to recover the body and send it for an autopsy.

In September, a 62-year-old man in Maharashtra was killed by a tiger when he had gone into a forest to collect mushrooms.

According to a report by National Tiger Conservation Authority in India, 320 people have been killed by tigers between 2014 and 2020. Maharashtra has the highest accounts of tiger attacks as many people depend on the forest for their livelihood. The attacks have increased since India’s tiger conservation efforts led to an increase in their population. Last year, 25 people died in Maharashtra in tiger attacks, the Hindu reported.

During the pandemic, the nation witnessed a decline in human deaths caused by tigers. Despite this, as many as 106 tigers died in 2020 compared to 96 in 2019.