Ahmedabad | A five-year-old boy has been mauled to death by a lioness in Amreli district of Gujarat, a forest official said Wednesday.

The incident occurred at Manavav village in Dhari taluka on Tuesday evening.

The lioness attacked the son of a farm labourer from Madhya Pradesh. As people shouted for help, the feline left the bleeding child and fled, Dhari's Range Forest Officer Minesh Patel said.

The child, who suffered serious injuries, was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him dead, the official said.

The forest department later formed three teams and managed to cage the lioness late Tuesday night, he said.

Gujarat is the sole abode of the Asiatic lions. A census conducted in May 2025 recorded the presence of lions outside Gir National Park in 11 districts, including Amreli, of Saurashtra in non-forested and coastal areas