Watch: Royal Bengal Tiger swims for hours in Brahmaputra river; relocated successfully

A Royal Bengal Tiger that got stranded on Assam’s Umananda Island finally found its new home at the Nameri National Park and Tiger Reserve on Sunday. Earlier on 21 December, the big cat somehow swam across the Brahmaputra river and reached Peacock Island where the Umananda Temple, a prominent tourist place in Guwahati, is situated. The creature took shelter in between some giant rocks. It was first spotted by a few construction labourers associated with the temple development works. As soon as the news broke out, a team of experts from the Assam Zoo rushed to the spot and organised the rescue operation. Now, a clip of the tiger’s relocation has been shared by the Nameri authority on their official Twitter handle. In the video, a number of vehicles of the forest department can be spotted standing in a line inside the forest area. One of them had a cage carrying the rescued tiger. The wild beast jumped out of the enclosure and then made its way into the forest, evidently enjoying the taste of freedom. The caption explained, “A tiger rescued from Umananda Island by Assam Zoo was released back into the wild at Nameri Tiger Reserve this morning at 7:28 AM.” Since being dropped on Twitter, the video has earned more than 18,000 views so far. It has also amassed hundreds of likes on the platform. People wasted no time in applauding the efforts made by the forest officials to return the tiger to its own habitat. A viewer marked it “the best Christmas present the cat could have had.” Another user wrote, “Congratulations team for your love and effort to restore the tiger and the Christmas gift of freedom to a life” A person noted, “Incredible tiger. Swam some 50-70 kms downstream in one of the biggest rivers in the world, having highly dangerous undercurrents. Thank God he is safe and sound and in his rightful place. Wonder why he came out of Orang NP.” Locals were left shocked when the tiger was first noticed at the Umananda Island and initially assumed it to be a leopard. But later, the officials from the Assam Zoo confirmed it to be a Royal Bengal tiger. The animal was thought to have strayed out of Orang National Park, located nearly 120 km east of Guwahati. On that day the tiger was spotted, a lot of devotees attended the temple to offer prayers. They were evacuated immediately and sent back to the other bank of the river. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.