Chandrapur (Maharashtra), Nov 20 (IANS): In a tragic incident, a woman Forest Guard was pounced upon and killed by a tigress in the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR), here on Saturday morning, officials said.

The tragedy occurred when the woman officer - identified as Swati Dumane - along with three other beat colleagues from Kolara Forest Range of TATR, was conducting a tiger count in the vicinity, said Dr Jitendra Ramgaonkar, Chief Conservator of Forests, TATR.

Around 7 a.m., Dumane and her three beat helpers launched a sign survey as part of the All India Tiger Estimation-2022 exercise, he said.

After trudging around 4 kms from the Kolara gate till compartment No 97 inside the TATR core area, the team saw a tigress sitting on the path ahead of them, barely 200 metres away.

They waited for almost half an hour for the tigress to move, but later they decided to take a detour through a thick patch of the forest, Ramgaonkar said.

Upon noticing the movement, the tigress followed them and attacked Dumane from the rear side as she was moving just behind the three beat helpers.

Even as the trio realised what was happening, the tigress mauled and dragged Dumane deep inside the jungle.

The beat helpers informed the seniors outside the forest who reached the spot and managed to trace out Dumane's body inside the jungle.

"The body has been sent for autopsy at the Chimur Government Hospital. The AITE-2022 exercise of sign survey and transect walk on foot has been suspended in TATR till further notice and precautions to avoid such incidents are being taken," Ramgaonkar said.

The Forest Department is providing all assistance to Dumane's family including her husband and a daughter, while a case has been registered with further investigations underway, he added.