A 72-year-old man was mauled to death by a tiger in a village near the Corbett Tiger Reserve here, officials said on Friday. The incident happened at around 6 pm on Thursday at Laduasain village in Rikhnikhal block close to the wildlife sanctuary, forest ranger Mahendra Singh Rawat said.?

Virendra Singh had gone to his field near his home to harvest the wheat crop when he was attacked by a tiger hiding behind the bushes, he said. The tiger dragged Singh around 100 metres into the nearby forest, the forest ranger said.?

Villagers gathered at the spot with burning torches and started searching for Singh and found his body a few hours later, he said, adding that Singh's head was partially eaten by the tiger.

The locals said they had been seeing the movement of tigers in the area for some time and had also informed forest officials about it.?Half a dozen cattle in the area have been killed in suspected tiger attacks in just a week, they claimed.