New Delhi, March 7 The Nagla Samal village in Uttar Pradesh's Etah district had an unexpected visitor that kept the villagers on tenterhooks for almost eight hours.
An adult Bengal Tigress had strayed into the residential area on Sunday when the villagers spotted it atop a cattle shed. Fearing for their lives, the residents quickly contacted the state Forest Department.
Conservator of Forest, Aligarh Circle, Aditi Sharma said: "Spotting a tiger in this area is very unusual. To ensure we could safely rescue the animal, we called in Wildlife SOS, Etawah Lion Safari personnel, senior veterinary officer, Dr R.K. Singh, and the police."
A seven-member team from the Wildlife SOS Rapid Response Unit led by Deputy Director (Veterinary Services), Ilayaraja Selvaraj was immediately dispatched from Agra to assist in the rescue operation.
When the team reached the village, it was found that the tigress had made its way inside the cattle shed through a gap in the tin roof. The rescue team immediately secured every corner of the shed and set up a safety net at the main exit point.
However, by that time, a crowd of over 3,000 people had gathered around the site to get a glimpse of the tigress. "Stringent crowd control measures were implemented to ensure the safety of the animal as well as the people," said Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder & CEO of Wildlife SOS, a non-profit working with the primary aim of rescuing and rehabilitating wildlife in distress across India.
Bricks from the shed wall were removed to tranquilise the animal from a safe distance and the tigress was swiftly immobilised. Following all safety protocols, the tigress was carefully shifted into a transportation cage. A medical examination revealed that the tigress had sustained a minor injury on tail. "Once stabilized and given the on-site necessary treatment, the tigress was transported to Etawah Safari for further treatment," a release from the Wildlife SOS said.
Ilayaraja said: "This was quite a challenging operation as the tigress was stuck inside a shed and we could not get a clear view of her. It took us several attempts before the tigress was safely immobilised."
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