Man-eater Indian tigress dies after being electrocuted

A tigress that killed four people in the west Indian state of Maharashtra died on Saturday, days after a court upheld an order to kill it.

The animal was electrocuted by a fence erected by a farmer to keep out wild boar, wildlife officials said.

Officials called off their hunt for the two-year-old tigress after they found its body by the fence early on Sunday.

Animal rights activists have criticised the forest department for failing to save the big cat.

Wildlife activists had challenged the shoot-to-kill order issued by the state forest department on 23 June, but the court rejected their appeal on Thursday.

The tigress was first captured in July after killing two people and injuring four in the town of Brahmapuri, in Maharashtra.

It was set free in Bor Tiger Reserve later, but killed two more people.

India is home to 60% of the world's tigers, which are threatened by loss of habitat and poachers who kill them for body parts used in traditional Chinese medicine.

With increasing human encroachment into their reserves, tigers often compete for resources with nearby villagers, leading to conflict.

Tiger deaths have steadily gone up in recent years. In 2015, Indian officials reported 80 tiger deaths, compared to 78 in the previous year.

Most attacks on people are chance encounters gone wrong, and the victims are rarely dragged away as prey.

However, a series of attacks on people in quick succession is considered a tell-tale sign of a man-eater at work.