Viral video: Tiger and wild boar show ‘mutual co-existence’ during animal rescue in Madhya Pradesh

On February 4, IFS officer Parveen Kaswan shared a rescue video on Twitter (now X). The rescue of a tiger and a wild boar took place at the Pench National Park in Madhya Pradesh. However, the most interesting part of the video is that both the animals calmly cooperated with the rescuers.

The video has gone viral on social media, gaining 1.6 lakh views within a few hours. The Pench Tiger Reserve is the place where English author Rudyard Kipling based The Jungle Book on. As of 2021, the area had 44 tigers.

“When a tiger and a boar fell into a well at Pench reserve. Both decided to stay calm and let rescuers do the job. Kudos to team,” wrote Kaswan.

The wild animals fell into a well in Pipariya Harduli village, Madhya Pradesh, which is part of the buffer zone of Pench Tiger Reserve.

Early in the morning, villagers spotted both animals struggling to stay afloat and quickly alerted the forest department. A rescue team soon arrived and used a crane and a traditional village cot (khatia) to pull both the animals out safely.

According to Pench Tiger Reserve officials, both the tiger and the wild boar were unharmed and were later released back into the forest.

In a separate post, Kaswan wrote, “No two wildlife rescue are same. All such cases poses different set of challenges. Though field experience make you take instant decisions in such situations. Good to see such a good effort resulted in positive outcomes.”

Social media reactions

While a tiger and a wild boar are enemies in the jungle, their behaviour during the rescue has amazed many.

“Mutual co-existence. The instinct to live can unite even the fiercest of beings,” wrote one social media user.

“When unbelievable stories are real. The boar is suspiciously at ease - swimming about, nudging the tiger to get in the crate, feels like it's been in this situation before,” came from another.

“Amazing rescue. And how beautifully both of them demonstrated restraint in the face of the adversity. Humans must learn from the animal kingdom everyday,” posted another user.