NAGPUR, May 22 -- Four women who went to the forest early Friday morning to collect tendu leaves were killed by a tigress in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district, taking the toll of human-wildlife conflicts in the district to 18 since January, forest officials said.

The incident took place in the Gunjewahi forest area of Sindewahi tehsil, nearly 200 km from Nagpur. The area is adjacent to the famous Tadoba tiger project.

According to reports, the tigress pounced on a group of women who went to the forest early morning to collect tendu leaves - a source of seasonal summer income for local tribal and rural families.

The deceased were identified as Kavdubai Dadaji Mohurle (45), Anubai Dadaji Mohurle (46), Sangeeta Santosh Chaudhary (36), and...