The floods have left Assam’s wildlife the most vulnerable. As 95% of Kaziranga National Park have been submerged due to the increasingly heavy rainfall, it comes as a plight to the animals who have now nowhere to take shelter. The wildlife death toll has reached up to 30 till now and it is simply heartbreaking!
The situation has become so immensely critical that a Royal Bengal Tiger was spotted taking shelter inside a shop, sitting on top of a bed. According to a report by TOI, the incident happened in Harmoti near Bagori range of Kaziranga.
Motilal, the owner of the shop, was alarmed when he heard locals shouting ‘Tiger! Tiger!’. As he stepped outside, he saw the tiger approaching the shop.
Speaking to News18, the owner of the shop said:
“It looked at me and did nothing. It just silently made its way into the shop and went and sat on the bed inside the room. The tiger was panting and visibly tired.”
Motilal then called the Forest Department who then sent a team of officials who, after arriving, chased away the crowd to empty the area.
A shout out to new followers and those following our #AssamFloods #Kaziranga updates, our team is on location w @kaziranga_ & will #waituntildark to give the #tiger a safe passage from the house to the forest. @fayedsouza @protectwildlife @bahardutt @prernabindra pic.twitter.com/rMnFbugcwO
— Wildlife Trust India (@wti_org_india) July 18, 2019
“The tiger crossed the road because it wanted to go to the highland as there is water inside the park. Because there are a lot of people here and vehicles are moving on the road, it took shelter inside a shop and is sitting on a bed there. It is tired,” explained Dr Samshul Ali, a wildlife vet who came along with the team.
Our vet @samshulwildvet is on a mission to tranquilise this #tiger to get him out of bed! Anyone else see the irony? 😆 #AssamFlood #Kaziranga ☝this thread is all abput good work done @vivek4wild@action4ifaw @VishalDadlani @deespeak @_AdilHussain @DevrajSanyal + pic.twitter.com/gCrwZtqzcc
— Wildlife Trust India (@wti_org_india) July 18, 2019
The team will either make way for the animal and provide it with a safe passage to return back to the park. If that doesn’t work, they’ll tranquilise the tiger and take it to safety.
“I want no harm to the animal. The forest guards are doing their best. I have also asked people not to panic. The tiger meant no harm”, said Motilal.
A Billion Choices says the bag but this #tiger chooses bed n breakfast to escape #AssamFloods. Our team @wti_org_india @action4ifaw with @kaziranga_ working to ensure safe passage to the #forest #Kaziranga @vivek4wild @AzzedineTDownes + pic.twitter.com/5hfxtK2djo
— Wildlife Trust India (@wti_org_india) July 18, 2019
It’s heartwrenching to see these poor animals being driven out of their home because of a natural calamity. We hope the forest officials arrange for an alternate safety zone for these poor creatures!