Young Tiger Found Inside Empty Odisha Home After Storm

Heavy downpours pushed a young Royal Bengal tiger out of the woods and into a vacant rural dwelling in the Mayurbhanj district on Friday, causing alarm among local inhabitants. The animal, estimated to be between seven and eight months of age, had been wandering near the forested edge close to the Similipal Tiger Reserve since Thursday night. A resident first spotted the cat close to his property, prompting neighbors to keep watch using flashlights while alerting authorities. A team led by Thakurmunda range officer Umakanta Behera and forester Bidyadhar Mahanta arrived at the location by nightfall. While the animal initially headed back toward the trees, severe weather forced it back into the settlement where it entered an empty house built under a government housing scheme. Residents locked the structure from the outside on Friday morning and contacted wildlife officials for help. A senior rescue team including Karanjia DFO Ajay Kumar Sahu, ACF Prabhat Kumar Kuanr, Similipal Deputy Director ACF Phalguni Behera, and ACF Ashok Kumar Das arrived to assess the situation and determined the animal looked unwell and needed medical care. Workers used nets and a special cage to secure the cat safely around noon, moving it to the Thakurmunda range office. Prakash Chand Gogineni, field director of the Similipal Tiger Reserve and Baripada regional chief conservator of forests, stated that medical staff are currently examining and treating the animal. Officials plan to transfer the cat to a larger enclosure at Jamuani within the core zone of the reserve once it regains health and strength. It will remain under observation there until it acquires proper hunting abilities to live on its own.