‘Life of Pi’ rerun on Guwahati temple island

Prabhakar Jha

Dec 21, 2022

'Life of Pi' moment for devotees and priests

Devotees and priests at Umananda Temple had a “Life of Pi” moment Tuesday morning — they were caught with a full grown Royal Bengal tiger that swam to the island where the landmark is located.

Image Source: AP

'Richard Parker' swam to the island

Construction workers sounded the alarm when they spotted the tiger swimming towards the island around 9.30am.

Image Source: AP

Forest authorities to the rescue

Police and forest authorities were alerted immediately, around 40 people were evacuated by the waiting ferry, and foresters reached the island.

Image Source: AP

Guwahati zoo, new address of the tiger

They tracked down the tiger, tranquilised it, and took it to Guwahati zoo.

Image Source: AP

A six-hour-long operation

The exercise to tranquilise and capture it took over six hours.

Image Source: AP

A native of Orang National Park

East Kamrup DFO Rohini Ballav Saikia said the tiger most likely strayed out of Orang National Park, 120km upstream of Guwahati.

Image Source: PTI

Initially suspected to be a leopard

It was initially suspected to be a leopard — which are known to live on the hills and forests surrounding the city.

Image Source: PTI