title: Unique fatality due to claw injuries in a tiger attack: a case report.
abstract: This paper describes a unique case of a fatal tiger attack in the wild. In the present case, a tiger fatally mauled a 34-year-old female with its claws, instead of the usual mechanism of killing by the bite injury to the neck. The autopsy revealed multiple fatal and non-fatal injuries caused by the tiger claws. The characteristic injuries due to the tooth impacts were absent as the teeth of the offending tiger were either fallen or non-functional. To the best of our knowledge, probably this rare case would be the first reported human fatality due to the tiger claw injuries in the world. The purpose of the present article is to highlight the fatal injuries due to the tiger claws, as the claw-induced fatal injuries in a tiger attack are not reported in the medico-legal literature. Moreover, this report would be an illustrative one for differentiation between the fatal injuries due to the claws and tooth impacts in a tiger attack. Furthermore, the present report establishes the importance of the tiger claws as a source of fatal injuries in a tiger attack.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Government Medical College, Nagpur 440003, Maharashtra, India. Electronic address: hvpathak@rediffmail.com.
authors.forename: Hrishikesh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pathak
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Government Medical College, Nagpur 440003, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Pradeep
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dixit
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Government Medical College, Nagpur 440003, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Shailendra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dhawane
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Government Medical College, Nagpur 440003, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Satin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Meshram
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Indira Gandhi Government Medical College, Nagpur 440018, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Manish
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shrigiriwar
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Smt. Kashibai Navale Medical College, Pune 411041, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Niraj
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dingre
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001344:Autopsy; D002423:Cause of Death; D005260:Female; D049429:Forensic Pathology / Q000379:methods*; D006724:Hoof and Claw; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D011677:Punctures; D012771:Shock, Hemorrhagic / Q000175:diagnosis*; D046010:Tigers
keywords: Animal attack; Big cat attack; Claw injury; Fatal tiger attack; Forensic autopsy; Panthera tigris tigris