Lakhimpur Kheri, Apr 12 (IANS): A 16-year-old boy was critically injured when a tiger attacked him in Pareli village of Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district.

The victim, identified as Tausif Ali, was grazing his goats near the Mohammadi Forest range when the tiger attacked him on Tuesday, said the South Kheri Forest division officer Sanjay Biswal.

The boy has sustained multiple injuries on his head and neck.

The victim was first taken to the community health centre in Gola Gokaran Nath tehsil from where he was referred to the district hospital. The doctors have said that the victim was in a serious condition, but is out of danger.

The forest division officer said: "It was noted that this was a tiger attack. The agricultural parts in the proximity of Maheshpur forest beat were used by tigers as their habitat. Now that the sugarcane crops have been harvested, the presence of tigers is visible. This attack appears to be accidental as only the boy was injured."

"It is certain that the feline was not a man-eater. In view of the repeated tiger attacks, four camera traps have been installed on the spot, while the field forest teams were deployed to monitor the tiger's movement," Biswal added.

He further said that tigers resort to an offensive mode in their own defence upon seeing people due to the vertical appearance of humans, unlike horizontal images of animals, which they comprehend as risky.

Notably, this was the second incident of a big cat's attack on humans in a span of three days in the Gola Gokaran Nath area.

Earlier on Sunday, a 35-year-old man Vijay Verma of Vishnu Bahera village was mauled by a tiger while he was returning home from his agricultural field. He has been admitted to the district hospital for treatment of injuries.