Assam: Three-month-old tiger cub rescued from kitchen garden in Biswanath village

A threemonthold tiger cub was rescued after being found with its forelimbs entangled in agricultural and fishing nets in the kitchen garden of a house in Natugaon village in Assamrsquos Biswanath district on September 17The cub was spotted by local residents following which the forest department police district administration and Wildlife Trust of India WTI launched a coordinated rescue operationCub likely separated from motherThe juvenile tiger was believed to have been separated from its mother possibly due to strong river currents in the areaThe rescue team secured the site and surveyed neighbouring riverine islands in an attempt to locate an adult tigress but found no evidence of the motherThe team guided the cub into a transportation crate and shifted it to the Central Range Office for veterinary observation No chemical immobilisation was used keeping in mind the animalrsquos young ageldquoThe rescue was accomplished without the use of chemical immobilisation considering the young age of the animalrdquo said Dr C Ramesh Field Director KNP and TRA team comprising WTI ecologist Dr Subhasish Arandhra veterinarian Dr Deepak Sarma and frontline forest staff also surveyed nearby riverine islands upstream for tiger or juvenile pugmarksRescue team attempts reunion with motherBased on evidence suggesting that a tigress with cubs had recently been present in the area officials decided to attempt a reunion The cub was taken to an upstream riverine island in Murkhuwa and Bhawani using a mechanised country boat locally known as a bhutbhutiThe operation led by Dr Panjit Basumatary of WTIrsquos Centre for Bear Rehabilitation and Conservation CBRC involved continued monitoring feeding and hydration of the cub A camera trap was installed at the release site to check for the presence of an adult tigress before the team leftThe following day on September 18 a drone survey was conducted on the advice of Ritu Paban Borah DFO Biswanath Wildlife Division to assess the site and surrounding arealdquoThe tiger was observed to still be present at the location However the survey also indicated that the river water level was rising creating a risk that the cage and surrounding area could become submergedrdquo said Nayan Jyoti Gogoi AFS Assistant Conservator of Forests Biswanath Wildlife DivisionThe cub was subsequently moved to a safer location that allowed officials to monitor it from a distance while also facilitating health checks and supplementary feeding The site was selected after assessing the surrounding habitat and likely tiger movement routesCub leaves cage on its ownOn September 19 the tiger cub was reported to have left the cage on its own The forest department has since continued monitoring the area and installed camera traps around the release sitePugmark evidence was found on September 23 around 200 metres from the release crate raising hopes that the cub remains in the arealdquoWhile pugmark evidence was found on 23 September approximately 200 metres from the release crate we remain hopeful of capturing images of the tiger cub in the coming days Cameratrap monitoring will continue over the coming weeksrdquo said Dr Basumatary