A mother in India fighting a tiger with his bare hands to save his toddler on Wednesday (7/9). Local officials said the toddler was already in the tiger jaw.

It all started when Archana Choudhary was out of her home in Madhya Pradesh state on Sunday (4/9) when the 15-month-old boy wanted to pee.

A local official, Sanjeev Shrivastava, later said that a tiger came out of the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve near the residence of Archana Choudhary and pounced on them.

The tiger, Shrivastava said, attacked and tried to bite off the boy’s head. However, the mother immediately jumped to the rescue.

The tiger kept trying to catch the cub until the villagers heard Coundhary’s cries and helped save him. The tiger then slipped into the forest.

After that, ARchana Choudhary and the baby were rushed to hospital. The mother’s lung was punctured and she suffered an injury to her abdomen. The baby’s head was injured.

“He (Archana Choudhary has been hospitalized and is out of danger, recovering,” Shrivastava said, as reported strait timeWednesday (7/9).

“The baby is fine too,” he confirmed.

Meanwhile, The Times of India newspaper said a search operation was underway to repel the tiger from its territory. Villagers have also been asked to stay indoors at night.

An increase in human-wildlife conflict has been observed across South Asia as more and more forests are lost due to urban expansion.

According to government data, nearly 225 people were killed in tiger attacks between 2014 and 2019 in India. More than 200 tigers were killed by poachers or electrocuted between 2012 and 2018.

India is home to around 70% of the world’s tigers and the tiger population was estimated at 2,967 in 2018.

(team/chri)