Tezpur: An adult male tiger, which fell into an open well, has been rescued and released in the wild here after an intensive rescue operation by the state forest officials and wildlife activists.

"The bulky tiger which was growling in the well near Nameri National Park was noticed by local villagers on Wednesday morning.

"They alerted the forest officials who along with a rescue team from International Fund for Animal Welfare and the Wildlife Trust of India (IFAW-WTI) swung into action," Ashok Kumar, WTI director, said.

However, the operation had to be abandoned in the night due to dark but was resumed yesterday morning by a team comprising Divisional Forest officer of Tezpur S P Basisth, Range Officer of WTI Gogoi, veterinarians Parag Deka and Binay Barman along with other forest department staff.

"The tiger which was a well grown one was sedated with a dart and then pulled out of the well with the help of a crane and put into a cage," Kumar said.

It was later in the evening released in the Nameri national park in Tezpur.

The officials did not rule out the tiger being displaced by the flood which has submerged at least 40 per cent of the area of the Nameri park located in Arunanchal-Assam border near Tezpur.
Source : PTI