Unfazed by the presence of scores of people who had gathered in nearby houses to get its glimpse, a tigress stood relaxed on a wall yawning, as it basked in the winter sun, before being rescued by forest officials here in a village, 4-5 kilometres from the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve.

Unlike usual man-animal encounters, this tiger – not older than three years of age – gave ample opportunity to the curious onlookers in Athkona village to make videos, which have since gone viral on social media.

A forest official said that the tiger appeared to be “fit and fine” and was not bothered by human presence in such large numbers as it had been living close to human habitation.

Speaking to PTI, Pilibhit Tiger Reserve Deputy Director Naveen Khandelwal said, "We have rescued the tigress that was spotted in Athkona village. It is under observation by veterinary doctors in the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve. It is a young female and is approximately 2-3 years old." He added that the tigress was spotted in the village between 3 am to 4 am, when information about it was sent to the department.

"The tigress was first localised in the village and was brought out from the village on Tuesday morning (between 10 am and 11 am) after being tranquilised," Khandelwal said.

When asked why the tigress remained calm despite the presence of scores of people around it, he said, "As per my understanding and experience, the tigress is quite young and has been living close to human habitations and was thus not perturbed." He added that the tigress looks to be “fit and fine”.

Khandelwal added that four darts were fired at the tigress, of which two missed it, while one dart was removed by the tigress itself.

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