A Royal Bengal tiger swam 120km across the Brahmaputra river in Assam to reach a tiny island before he was tranquilised after a 10-hour long effort and taken to Assam State Zoo on Tuesday.
The video that has now gone viral shows a full-grown tiger swimming and then taking shelter in a narrow cave on Peacock Island near Guwajatithat is famous for the ancient Umananda temple.
It has been assumed that if the tiger came from Kaziranga National Park, he swam more than 160km.
The big cat was first spotted in the river near the Raj Bhawan by morning walkers and boatmen being pushed by the current towards the river island where the Umananda temple is located atop a hillock.
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They informed the forest department and a rescue team, including veterinarians, rushed to the spot in boats.
The tiger on reaching the island had moved towards the rocks surrounding it and had taken shelter there.
The exercise by the forest department to tranquilise the big cat and capture it took over ten hours, the official said.
No detail about the tiger was shared by the forest department.
The Brahmaputra flows along the right side of the city and Peacock island, considered to be the smallest inhabited river island in the world, is in its middle and just opposite the Kamrup deputy commissioner’s office.
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The forest workers found it difficult to tranquilise the tiger as it was at a distance from the river bank. “The tiger was stuck between two large rocks and the rescue team had to carry out the operation very cautiously,” he said.
There was the dual danger of the tiger falling back into the river and drowning, while there was also the fear that it may not be tranquilised fully and could attack the members of the rescue team, he said.
“After the team was sure that the tiger has been fully tranquilised could they proceeded to rescue and capture it and put the animal into a cage. This took considerable time as the space between the rocks was very narrow,” he said.
The veterinarians will examine the tiger thoroughly and it will probably be released in the wild after ensuring that it is healthy, the official said.
The photographs of the tiger’s stripes will be taken to ascertain its identity and whether it is part of the existing database with the department, he added.
The tiger could have strayed from Orang National Park in Darrang district, about 150 km away, and was probably swept away by the strong current of the Brahmaputra while drinking water from it, the forest official said.
The priests of the temple, which is dedicated to Lord Shiva, along with other devotees and tourists were evacuated by NDRF personnel in its boat, parked near the bank of the river near Jahaj Ghat here. The temple priests reside on the island.
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The Umananda Temple, which draws a large number of devotees, was built by Ahom King Gadadhar Singha in the last decade of the 17th century.
(with PTI inputs)
