Unfazed by the presence of people gathered on nearby rooftops to watch the spectacle, a tiger sat on top of a wall yawning and basking in the winter sun on Tuesday, before being rescued by forest officials in a village outside the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve.
Unlike usual man-animal encounters, this tiger -- not older than three years of age -- gave ample opportunity to the scores of curious onlookers who had gathered in nearby houses, including on terraces, to make videos that have since gone viral on social media.
A forest official said that the tiger appeared to be “fit and fine” and was not bothered by human presence in such large numbers as it had been living close to human habitation.
The tigress stood on the wall -- briefly sat on it as well -- seemingly unbothered by the crowd.
The tiger was spotted in Athkona village, about four to five kilometres from the tiger reserve.
Speaking to PTI, Pilibhit Tiger Reserve Deputy Director Naveen Khandelwal said, "We have rescued the tigress that was spotted in Athkona village. It is under observation by veterinary doctors in the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve. It is a young female and is approximately 2-3 years old."
He added that the tiger was spotted in the village between 3 am to 4 am, when information about it was sent to the department.
"The tigress was first localised in the village and was brought out from the village on Tuesday morning (between 10 am and 11 am) after being tranquilised," Khandelwal said.
When asked why the tiger remained calm despite the presence of scores of people around it, he said, "As per my understanding and experience, the tiger is quite young and has been living close to human habitations and was thus not perturbed." He added that the tiger looks to be “fit and fine”.
Khandelwal added that four darts were fired at the tiger, of which two missed it, while one dart was removed by the tiger itself.
