Being held in captivity is perhaps one of the most excruciating experiences that any creature might go through, so it is no wonder that videos showing animals being released into the wild have never failed to capture hearts online.
One such old clip, which has now managed to go viral, shows a mighty tiger taking a giant leap into a water body and running off into the wilderness of the Sundarbans.
Indian Forest Service officer Parveen Kaswan shared the video on Sunday and netizens were quick to draw parallels with the movie ‘Life of Pi’, which is based on Yann Martel’s prize-winning novel.
At the beginning of the 1:49-minute clip, the tiger is heard growling inside a boat. Seconds later, the big cat takes a giant leap and plunges into the water. While people are heard shouting, the beast swims across the water body swiftly. Within moments, the tiger reaches land and escapes into the lush green wilderness beyond.
Watch the video here:
That tiger sized jump though. Old video of rescue & release of tiger from Sundarbans. pic.twitter.com/u6ls2NW7H3
— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) April 17, 2022
See reactions:
i recall a similar scene captured wonderfully by anish andheria while a captured tiger was released in the sunderbans in january 2010. i can never forget that sequence. https://t.co/y5WbgqpQmy
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) April 18, 2022
We witnessed a really talented tiger with swimming abilities in Life of Pie earlier 😊 pic.twitter.com/AcV3hwsuxy
— Praveen🦁 (@PraveenIN12345) April 18, 2022
Reminds me of Life of Pi! Richard Parker never looked back 🙂
— Mitra Joshi (@mitrajo) April 17, 2022
It seems Life of Pi last tiger scene was inspired from this video..tiger didn’t look back..he entered into his World.
— Mr.Happy 🙂 (@Shubham54199863) April 17, 2022
What a Launch 🚀 😅 pic.twitter.com/PeARCD1TMQ
— Pushpam Chaudhary (@Satsangi235) April 17, 2022
And the Richard Parker didn’t look back again…
— Atul (@atulaloke) April 17, 2022
This perfectly defines the term “Confidence” by true means! 💪https://t.co/D8L0rDUKuL
— [email protected] #SaveLingarajaTemple #SaveIndia (@Surya18617200) April 18, 2022
The clip has already garnered more than 9.93 lakh views on Twitter. Most netizens shared their amazement at the tiger’s action. “It seems Life of Pi’s last tiger scene was inspired from this video..tiger didn’t look back..he entered into his World,” commented a user.
A similar video, which showed a leopard being released into a forest in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut, had gone viral in March this year. The video shared by Indian Forest Service officer Ramesh Pandey on Twitter showed a man releasing the animal from a truck parked on a river bed and the big cat instantly jumping away to freedom. Within seconds, it crossed a shallow water body and escaped into the wilderness.
Earlier this year, Kaswan had shared another video of the rescue and release of a Himalayan black bear, winning hearts online. The clip showed the bear leaping out of a cage and sprinting towards the forest cover.