Tezpur, Assam, October 5, 2015: The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)-Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) run Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) received a call from Narayan Mahanta, DFO, Sonitpur (West) informing them about the presence of a tiger in the campus of All India Radio (AIR) at Tezpur, Assam. He asked the IFAW- WTI Mobile Veterinary Service (MVS) team to immediately come and assist the Forest Department in inspecting the AIR campus.

It was late afternoon by the time the IFAW-WTI team led by Dr. Panjit Basumatary reached and inspected the AIR campus to search for any noticeable evidence of the tiger. They saw a kill – a goat with a punch mark. Since it was already starting to get dark, it wasn’t clear whether it had been killed by a tiger or a leopard. The team decided to put camera traps near the carcass and the Forest Department team was posted at a strategic location to see if the tiger showed up to devour the kill.

Late night, around 10:50 pm, the tiger appeared and with lightning speed took away the kill, with the observers barely being able to see him for a fraction of a second. One camera trap recorded the visual evidence- a sub-adult male tiger.

October 6, 2015:
Analyzing the camera trap image and evidential proof, the AFD Tezpur Authority asked the Kaziranga DFO (EAWL Div) for the support of the IFAW-WTI team from CWRC. Accordingly, the MVS team led by Dr Panjit Basumatary and Dr Biswajit Boruah, with two animal keepers, was deputed at AIR Tezpur.

A tiger trap cage with live bait was placed at a strategic location.

It was decided by the operation team that no one would be around the area, to avoid all disturbance that could hamper the possibility of the tigers’ return and capture.

The police and other related departments were kept in the loop for any kind of support, not only for the tiger, but also for the safety of the villagers living next to the AIR campus. All the households in the neighbourhood were put on alert.

Narayan Mahanta, DFO, Sonitpur (West), went on record that the IFAW-WTI rescue team and forest officials were on the job.

In the afternoon, Gobin Chetri, a Doordarshan employee and resident of the campus, saw the tiger once peeping from the bushes. Roaring of the tiger was also heard by the team twice that day.

The senior administrative authorities and police also observed the situation till mid night. However, the operation team felt that the presence of so many people resulted in disturbance being created, as a result of which the tiger remained out of sight.

The Forest Department observed the site overnight, but in vain.

October 7, 2015
The Chief Wildlife Warden instructed the Tezpur forest authorities to treat the matter as top priority and take utmost care in handling the situation. The IFAW-WTI veterinary team was also told to be stationed at the AIR campus and be prepared to tackle any kind of emergency situation.

Accordingly, the team led by Dr Biswajit Baruah supported by another vet Dr Sanjay Gohain, IFAW-WTI communications person, Subhamoy Bhattacharjee, and an animal keeper, Raju Kutum, reported to DFO Sonitpur and remained stationed at the nearby forest campus. The team with forest officials monitored the situation 24×7. Seeing how the presence of a crowd till mid night the previous day had hampered the operation and to minimise disturbance due to human presence, the CWRC MVS team suggested to the DFO to restrict the movement of people in that area. Only a few forest staff were placed at a point in the nearby building to watch the trap cage area from a far away location.

The night vigil yielded no results.

October 8, 2015
Early morning the forest team got a call that a tiger pug mark had been seen towards the western part of the AIR campus. The IFAW-WTI MVS team also went for the survey, but it wasn’t a tiger pug mark. No evidence of the tigers’ presence was found outside the AIR campus too.

In the afternoon at 1 pm, the DFO called a strategy meeting to handle the situation with the concerned civil authorities and IFAW- WTI MVS team. Circle Officer of Tezpur was also present.

It was decided in the meeting that more camera traps would be placed and the trap cage would be placed at the most suitable location with the police on alert to control the crowd.
Unfortunately, despite a no entry restriction by the relevant authorities, some people entered the restricted area and started to spread false rumours amongst the locals that there was no tiger present in the campus. This not only disturbed the scene but also hampered the efforts of the operation team. The DFO cautioned the staff on duty to prevent such untoward incidents from happening again in the future.

The Field Director of Nameri Tiger Reserve placed four camera traps at certain locations to record the movement of the tiger that day. IFAW-WTI MVS team remained on high alert at the camping area outside the tiger presence site. The main intention was to get the tiger trapped with the bait in total silence once darkness fell.

However, in the evening there was a hue and cry at the adjacent village that someone saw the tiger roaming around the road. Immediately, the forest staff and IFAW-WTI MVS team rushed to the spot. The smell of tiger was lingering in the air, but the pug marks were trampled upon by the crowd.

People blocked the MVS vehicle and heated exchange of words took place. At last with the intervention of police force, the team came back from the spot at 10 p.m.

October 9, 2015
Before the second strategy meeting that was held that day, the camera trap images were checked to see if any movement of the tiger had been caught. However, there were no images. Dr Biswajit Boruah, Dr Jahan Ahmed and Dr Sanjay Gohain of the IFAW-WTI MVS team were present at the meeting.

It was decided that the present system of 24×7 monitoring would continue and staff would be engaged to search the adjoining areas as well to find out any sign of tiger presence. This would be continued till it was confirmed that the tiger has moved out of the campus.
The IFAW- WTI MVS team continued camping at the nearest forest beat for any kind of veterinary care and emergency.

There was no sign of the tiger that day too.

October 10, 2015
Early morning the forest staff and IFAW-WTI MVS team heard that fresh tiger pug marks have been seen near the Brahmaputra River, around Agnigarh area of Tezpur — an area which is approximately three kilometres away from the AIR campus.

The team reached the site and on inspection found that the pug marks were probably of a medium sized sub-adult tiger. The team followed the pug marks trail which disappeared after a point which could mean that the tiger might have entered the river and swum across to the other side.

Presently, the team has received information that a farmer on the other side of the river has seen fresh pug marks. The team will go to the other side of the river to take stock of the situation and accordingly plan their next strategy.

Thereafter, no signs of tiger have been reported and the team decided to return to the field station. The tiger seems to have returned back to its natural habitat.