A woman forest guard was attacked and killed by a tigress at the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra on Saturday.
The lady forest guard was identified as Swati N Dhumane, a 31-year-old, who was on the Kolara beat along with three beat helpers.
Dr Jitendra Ramgaonkar, Chief Conservator of Forests and Field, TATR, confirmed the incident.
After walking around 4 km from Kolara gate till compartment no 97, the team noticed a tigress sitting ahead on the road around 200 meters from them.
“They waited for around half an hour and tried to take a detour through a thick patch of forest,” he said.
The tigress, after noticing the movement in the forest , followed and attacked Swati, who was moving just behind her 3 helpers. The tigress dragged her inside the forest.
The body was located immediately with the help of forest staff and taken for post-mortem examination to Chimur Government Hospital.
All immediate help is being provided to the family including a daughter and her husband.
“The AITE 2022 exercise of sign survey and transect walk on foot is temporarily suspended immediately till further notice. All precautions to avoid the repetition of the incident are being taken,” he said.
Maharashtra Vanrakshak-Vanpal Association-Chandrapur President Pradip Kodape said that the forest guard hailed from the Gadchiroli district.
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