Uttar Pradesh: Tiger caught in currents; swims back to safe location in Katarniaghat sanctuary

LUCKNOW: Tigers are excellent swimmers. The latest proof of it came from Katarniaghat wildlife sanctuary on Thursday where a young tiger was caught in the midst of heavy currents near Girijapuri barrage on the border of Bahraich and Lakhimpur Kheri on river Sharda.
The tiger tried to stay afloat and swimmed for about two hours to reach back to his safe zone in Katarniaghat sanctuary. It could have easily swimmed for at least eight kilometers to reach its safe location back in the sanctuary.

Here the much needed help came from the forest department, locals and the irrigation department. It was the coordination between everyone that made it easier for the big cat to swim back to where it could have strayed from.
The forest department was informed by the locals about a tiger caught in the currents near the barrage at around 11.53am on Thursday. While the local forest team reached the spot within fifteen minutes the team led by the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Akash Deep Badhawan reached with the net and other paraphernalia by 12.29 pm. The team was prepared to rescue the tiger in case the need be.
In the 30-minute duration since the locals spotted the tiger and the rescue team reached the spot, the tiger tried to stay afloat. It could be seen getting washed away by the heavy flow of water at the gates of the barrage in the video that went viral.
"Our team was prompt to react and the irrigation department officers were prompt to act in reducing the water flow which helped the tiger gain balance," said director, Dudhwa tiger reserve, Sanjay Pathak.
Then the tiger tried swimming back to the sanctuary. The team of the forest department trailed the feline on a boat and drones were put on too to keep an eye on any obstruction that could make the tiger panic or endanger its life. "The tiger was very calm and it made the operation easier. It could have charged back at the team but, thankfully, it all went very well," said the official.
Around 2.09pm, the tiger was seen retreating to the sanctuary. Locals and the monitoring team saw the big cat entering the sanctuary's Barkharia range. "Mostly such scenes are from Sunderbans but we saw it in Dudhwa for the first time," said the director.
About four hours later, at around 5.45pm, when the forest department's team was patrolling the sanctuary it caught sight of the tiger fully drenched at the same location where the rescuers and the locals had seen the "swimmer" tiger enter the sanctuary, assuming it was the same.