By Karishma Hasnat Jul 16, 2020 2:38:58 PM IST (Updated)
The tiger had strayed out from the submerged areas inside the forest to move to the higher reaches as flood in Assam has inundated nearly 95% of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.
“Everyone in our family has seen a tiger, but today my mother could touch one, she patted on its back,” said Kamal Sharma who hosted a Royal Bengal tiger at his house in Kandhulimari village of Assam’s Golaghat district on Monday.
A sub-adult tiger swam into the peripheral village, just 200 metres from the flooded Agaratoli range of Kaziranga National Park, and took shelter under the thatched goat-shed inside Sharma’s house. It stayed all night in close proximity with the goats before returning to the highlands next day at dusk - causing no harm to livestock or humans.
“We heard noises at around 1:30am, but I did not bother to look. Next morning, we saw fresh pug marks on ground, and believed it was a tiger that might have rested for a while and gone. My mother went inside the goat-shed to feed them hay and clean it when she saw a sack like object lying below in water. She touched it and without uttering a word hurried back to the house. She was shivering for nearly 15 minutes and told us it was a tiger,” said Sharma, a dairy farmer in the area.