Jaipur, May 8 (IANS): A tiger killed a forest guard in Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan's Sawai Madhopur district on Friday, an official said.

"The incident occurred at around 6 p.m. when one of our forest guards, Rampal Mali, who was on duty, was attacked about 500 meters from the entrance gate by a tiger," a forest department official told IANS.

"We are not sure which tiger killed him and under what circumstances as Mali was found in an unconscious state near the entrance gate and he was taken straight to the hospital in Sawai Madhopur where doctors declared him dead," he said. Malis was in his 50s.

The forest department has launched an enquiry into the incident.

In October 2012, a tiger had dragged away a 47-year old forest official while he was monitoring a passage repair work and mauled him to death. Ranthambhore in Sawai Madhopur, 170 km from here, was declared one of the Project Tiger reserves in 1973 and became a national park in 1980. The park is spread over an area of 1,300 square km including the buffer zone.

Besides an estimated over 60 tigers including cubs, other wildlife found in the park includes leopard, nilgais, dhole, wild boar, sambar, hyena, sloth bear and chital. It is also home to a wide variety of trees, plants, birds and reptiles.