A tigress was found dead in a forest range in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district on Sunday, just an hour after critically injuring a forest guard during an operation to steer her and her three cubs away from human settlement, officials said.

The tigress, identified as T-84, was found dead in the vicinity of Ratnapur village under the jurisdiction of Sindewahi Forest Range, they said.

The exact cause of the big cat's death will be ascertained after an autopsy, a senior officer of the forest department said.

According to officials, the tigress, aged 9 to 10 years, had wandered close to the village, along with her three cubs, and locals had attempted to drive her away from the spot, after which she retreated into a field.

On being alerted, a team of forest guards and other staff tried to move the tigress back toward the forest, and during this process, the three cubs got separated and the tigress attacked forest guard Sajjan Parekar, who sustained critical injuries, they said.

The injured forest guard was immediately admitted to a hospital in Sindewahi for primary treatment and later shifted to Chandrapur for further medical care.

An hour after the attack, the tigress was found dead in a paddy field, the official said.

According to preliminary information, the tigress's organs were intact and in good condition. The carcass has been sent to the Transit Treatment Centre (TTC) at Chandrapur for a high-level examination and post-mortem.

The forest department has launched a search operation to track the missing cubs, the official said.

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