'Everyone was strangely uplifted by the release'

The rescue and the decision to release the sub-adult tigers in the Kaziranga National Park, happened so fast that there was an unusual scrambling at WTI to get photographers and video crews in place. Guwahati based film-maker Shibani Chaudhury recounts her experience...

The rescue and the decision to release the sub-adult tigers in the Kaziranga National Park, happened so fast that there was an unusual scrambling at WTI to get photographers and video crews in place. Guwahati based film-maker Shibani Chaudhury recounts her experience...

Usual Monday morning until I get a call from WTI - Delhi, informing me of this dramatic rescue of 2 tiger cubs from a village near the Kaziranga National Park in Assam. The cubs are to be released 'asap', so there is no time to waste. I try fixing up camerapersons closer to location. No luck. By 11:00 am I'm racing to CWRC in Kaziranga about 250 km away.

HT Image

At 2:20 pm all the personnel at the CWRC are action stations. Despite the hot afternoon, the atmosphere at the centre is electric. Two wild sub-adult tiger cubs, safely rescued and ready for release within 24 hours: wildlife rescue stories can't get better.

The female has already ensconced herself in a shaded long cage fastened onto a tractor-trailer. Rathin Barman (Centre Manager) and Bhaskar Choudhury (Centre Veterinarian) lead me almost tiptoe to the male cub, still held in a ground enclosure. Topaz eyes glare into my camera; curious for a second - the magnificent face crinkles into a snarl.