A tigress (2) was released into the wild on Friday by the authorities of Assam’s Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR), two days after she was rescued amid the flood fury that has submerged 85% of the park, the largest habitat of one-horned rhinos in the world.
The tigress was brought in a cage on a vehicle and released by forest personnel, which was captured in a telling video that showed the animal running into the wild after a few seconds of initial hesitation.
The tigress was one of the two big cats that had strayed out of the park on Tuesday to escape floodwaters.
While one tiger was driven away to higher locations in adjoining Karbi Anglong district, the tigress moved to a nearby village and spent the night in a thatched hut’s kitchen.
The forest officials and veterinarians tranquilised the tigress on Wednesday afternoon, as they were apprehensive about its safety because of the widespread monsoon-induced inundation in the area and shifted it to the Centre for Wildlife Research and Conservation (CWRC) located at Borjuri near the park.
“The decision was taken to tranquilise and rescue the tigress because it had not moved out of the village on its own. The animal was kept under observation at CWRC for two nights,” said P. Sivakumar, director KNPTR.
{{/usCountry}}“The decision was taken to tranquilise and rescue the tigress because it had not moved out of the village on its own. The animal was kept under observation at CWRC for two nights,” said P. Sivakumar, director KNPTR.
{{/usCountry}}Veterinarians and CWRC personnel conducted a thorough health check-up of the tigress and decided to release it back to the wild after they were convinced that the animal had not suffered any injury and would be safe on nature’s lap.
“I thank all forest personnel, who were involved in the rescue and release of the animal, and hope it will thrive in the wild,” said Dr. Shamshul Ali, a wildlife veterinarian.
Earlier on Monday, another male tiger had come out of the park to escape floodwaters. The animal moved back inside the park after spending a few hours outside.
Kaziranga, which is spread over 430 square kilometres, is home to 121 Royal Bengal Tigers — one of the highest densities of the species anywhere.
This monsoon, 86 wild animals, including five rhinos, four of which due to drowning, have died in and around the park, while 125 other animals, including a one-year-old female rhino calf, have been rescued.