Tiger claws woman to death in world first

A woman in India has become the first person in the world to be mauled to death by a tiger using only its claws.

Tigers usually kill by biting the prey's neck, but it is believed this tiger's teeth had fallen out.

It is thought the 34-year-old was seen as an easy meal.

The woman had been collecting tendu leaves in the Bramhapuri forest when the Royal Bengal tiger attacked.

The findings have been published in the journal Legal Medicine.

According to the Daily Mail, an autopsy revealed multiple fatal and non-fatal injuries caused by teeth, but none from teeth.

The injuries caused fatal damage to blood vessels and organs.

Other people attempted to distract the tiger when they heard the woman's cries but it was too late.

The tiger was found dead the next day around four kilometres from the scene. Its paws matched paw prints taken near the victim and an examination of the tiger's body had no functional teeth, reports the IB Times.

The Bengal tiger has been classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) since 2010.

The total population is estimated at fewer than 2,500 individuals with a decreasing trend, with around 1,706 to 1,909 in India, 440 in Bangladesh, 163 to 253 in Nepal and 67 to 81 in Bhutan.