A tiger was found asleep in a resident’s bed in Assam, India, after apparently fleeing the Kaziranga National Park because of heavy flooding.
The tiger was found relaxing inside a house beside a shop, where residents decided to let the animal rest rather than disturb it.
92 animals have died in the past few weeks because of extreme flooding in the Kaziranga National Park. The tiger was first spotted next to a highway around 200 metres from the park, before residents discovered it taking shelter in their home.
It is believed the tiger had been fleeing the floods, but became disturbed by the busy road so found shelter inside the house, which is not far from the highway.
Locals called a wildlife conservation group, who arrived at the house and created a safe escape route for the tiger to take towards the jungle.
According to Rathin Barman, who led the rescue operation, the female tiger entered the house at around 7.30am local time, and slept most of the day.
He told BBC News:
She was very exhausted and had a nice day-long nap.
Local resident Motilal, who owns the house where the tiger was found as well as the adjoining shop, left the vicinity as soon as they saw the wild animal.
Barman added:
The great thing was that nobody disturbed her so she could rest. There’s a lot of respect for wildlife in this region.
[Motilal] says he will preserve the bed sheet and pillow on which the tiger rested.
Wildlife Trust India worked to make a safe passage for the tiger to use so it could get back to the forest. They eventually used firecrackers to wake up the animal, at around 5.30pm local time, after which she crossed the highway and walked towards the forest.
Barman said he is not sure if the tiger reentered the forest, or had ‘walked off into an adjoining area’.
Kaziranga National Park, a Unesco-rescognised site, is home to 110 tigers. No tigers died in the recent flooding, though many other animals did, including 54 hog deer, seven rhinos, six wild boars and one elephant.
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.