(CNN) A leopard has killed a Buddhist monk who was meditating in a protected forest reserve in India, according to local officials.

Rahul Walke Bodhi had gone to meditate in the reserve on the morning of December 11 when he was killed, said Santosh Chaudhuri, an official from the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve where the attack took place.

Bodhi was one of a number of monks visiting the area for a yearly prayer conference, AFP reported.

"He sat under a tree and was attacked by the leopard then," Chaudhuri told CNN via telephone. "The monk walked in about 1 to 2 kilometers from the temple, into the forest to meditate. That is where he was attacked. He would go out regularly to meditate."

The reserve is just over 500 miles from Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra state in western India. Chaudhuri told CNN that the area also is home to tigers and bears.

Read More