LUCKNOW, India — Villagers in northern India have crushed a tiger to death with a tractor after it killed a man, despite the tiger living in a wildlife reserve, officials said Monday.

Forest officer Mahavir Kaujlagi said villagers circled around the female tiger after it killed the farmer late Sunday. When the tiger tried to escape, the villagers crushed it under the wheels of a tractor.

The village is inside the core zone of the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in Lakhimpur Khiri area, some 155 miles southeast of Lucknow, the state capital of Uttar Pradesh.

Killing a tiger in protected areas is illegal, and the reserve’s director, Ramesh Pandey, said a case under the Wildlife Protection Act would be registered with police.

Villagers said the tiger injured another person in an attack about 10 days ago.

The tiger is India’s national animal and it is categorized as endangered under the Wildlife Protection Act. Tiger attacks in the country are common, with government data from last year showing an average of more than one person killed per day in conflict with a wild tiger or elephant over the previous three years.


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