AN investigation has been launched in India after an endangered Bengal tiger died after it was cornered and crushed under a JCB digger in a botched capture attempt.

The horrific video, filmed last weekend in the Ramnagar Forest near the Jim Corbett national park in the northern state of Uttarakhand, has gone viral in India, infuriating animal rights activists who claim the tiger died from its injuries.

The footage shows the male tiger being trapped in a corner by forest officials. Disorientated by tranquiliser darts and stumbling next to an earthmover, it collapses as a man can be heard shouting “crush it”.

The animal becomes trapped under the huge metal rakes of the excavator’s arm as it falls and officials run towards it with a net to put it in a cage. It died a few hours later.