A 46-year-old man was mauled to death by a tiger after he entered a national park in Thailand. According to local reports, the man was with two friends searching for plants and herbs in Thap Lan National Park in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima.

According to local reports, the villagers warned them not to enter the park. However, the man -- identified as Jamras Phumwaengkuang, entered the forest with his friends reportedly split from the group when they heard a tiger approaching. Jamras' friends notified authorities and later a group of park officials and a rescue team were sent to look for him.

Park officials reportedly found the tiger guarding the man’s body, and a dead monitor lizard. The man’s right leg was bitten off and missing, presumably eaten, and there was a huge wound on his head.

Sumatran tigers are considered critically endangered by protection group the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with fewer than 400 believed to remain in the wild
Sumatran tigers are considered critically endangered by protection group the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with fewer than 400 believed to remain in the wild AFP / Thomas SAMSON

It took nearly 15 hours for officials to bring the victim's body out of the forest. Authorities sent the body to Wang Nam Khiew Hospital for an autopsy.

Earlier in March, a tigress mauled a man to death after he jumped into its enclosure at a biological park in the Indian city of Ranchi. Local authorities identified the man as 27-year-old Wasim Ansari, who leaped into the enclosure and tried to catch the attention of the animal. Moments after, the tigress leaped at him before grabbing him by his neck. The man succumbed to injuries on the spot.

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