by Bhupen Goswami

Guwahati : Animals at the Kaziranga National Park are suffering majorly as a result of the devastating floods in Assam. So much so that a tiger escaped from the sanctuary and was spotted ‘relaxing’ on a bed inside a house near the national highway.The situation of Assam is serious as heavy rainfall has caused a severe flood in all corners of the north-eastern state of India. The death toll is only increasing and at least 98 percent of the Kaziranga Park is inundated. Home to elephants, tigers, one-horned rhinos and other wildlife, the National Park is equally at risk. With each hour passing, disheartening videos showing the poor situation faced by humans and wildlife is surfacing on the internet. A recent one has come from Kaziranga, where a Tiger has been spotted to take some rest on a resident’s bed. Escaping the Assam floods, the wildlife team encountered this tiger, who was captured taking shelter and relax from all the current hazards in its habitat. In a series of tweets, the Wildlife Trust India informed their followers on Twitter about the tiger’s escapade and also shared pictures.

The caption of the tweets said that veterinarian Dr Samshul Ali has been busy formulating a plan with the Assam Forest Department to tranquilise the tiger that “has entered a house and is relaxing on a bed”. Assam floods “bring in unusual guests”. Indeed!Panic gripped the residents of Harmati located in Kaziranga as a Royal Bengal Tiger entered a house and was seen relaxing on the bed of the resident. As per reports, the tiger had strayed from the nearby Kaziranga National Park which is submerged under floodwaters. According to locals, the tiger entered the house of Rafikul at around 7 AM and was seen relaxing on his bed.Meanwhile, veterinarian Dr. Samshul Ali and his team are on their way to tranquillise the tiger. Forest officials have also arrived and preparations are on in full swing to relocate the tiger to a safer place. It is to be mentioned that almost 95% of Kaziranga National Park is submerged due to the ongoing floods in Assam and animals residing in the park are taking shelter in the highlands within the park and many are migrating to the southern highlands of Karbi Anglong by crossing National Highway 37.