A tiger in India has attacked and killed a woman by clawing her to death, the first known case of its kind.

Tigers usually use their teeth to kill their prey, biting their neck.

Though tigers rarely attack humans, this particular wild Royal Bengal tiger is thought to have lost its teeth, prompting it to maul its 34-year-old victim, who was collecting tendu leaves in the Bramhapuri forest.

Details of the tragic attack have just been published by scientists in the journal Legal Medicine.

On hearing the victim’s cries, other women tried to scare the tiger away by hurling stones, say the researchers. This made the tiger disappear in the bushes, but by then the animal had already badly mauled the woman.

An autopsy of her body revealed multiple fatal and non-fatal injuries caused by the tiger's claws, causing puncture wounds two centimetres long that severed blood vessels and organs.

The tiger itself was found dead the next day, near a reservoir around four kilometres from the site of the attack. Its paws matched paw prints taken near the victim.

An examination of the tiger's body found it had no functional teeth, and was disabled as a result.

That might explain why the tiger attacked the woman, either in defence or because it was extremely hungry, seeking easy prey.

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