Gir Somnath: A two-year-old girl was killed by a lioness in Gir Gadhada taluka of Gujarat’s Gir Somnath district on Wednesday morning, a forest official said.

The girl’s half-eaten body was recovered later and the lioness was captured, he said.

The district is home to the Gir National Park, the only habitat of Asiatic lions.

The incident took place at the house of Harsukhbhai Makwana, located near the Gir forest boundary, Range Forest Officer B B Vala said.

The child was playing in the verandah around 10 am with her mother nearby when a lioness suddenly emerged from the forest, snatched the girl, and took her nearly one km inside the jungle, he said.

Her mother immediately contacted forest department officials who retrieved the girl’s half-eaten body.

The lioness which is suspected to have attacked the girl was captured. It would be examined if she was responsible for the attack, the official said.