This International Tiger Day, we’re raising a toast to one of the most legendary runaways; a 230-kg male tiger who turned Lucknow's Rehmankhera and Kakori into his playground for 91 wild days. Since November 2024, he had the Forest Department in full chase mode, dodging drones, ducking cameras, and leaving just enough pugmarks to keep the thrill alive.

What followed was a ₹90-lakh saga of stealth, strategy, and sheer tiger swagger, proving that when the jungle comes calling, it doesn’t go quietly.

Spotted near Lucknow's Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture (CISH), this wild wanderer wasn’t just strolling through fields; he was outsmarting drones, dodging thermal cameras, and casually leaving pugmarks across three zones like a feline James Bond. While he didn’t attack humans, he did snack on 25 cattles, keeping 12 villages on edge and officials in full-blown mission mode.

Armed with drones, surveillance teams, elephants, and a ₹90-lakh operation budget, the Forest Department pulled out all stops. In the end after 91 days, it took a team of wildlife experts from Bengaluru and two tranquiliser darts to bring the operation to a close, without a single human injury.

Now safely secured, this tiger remains a striking symbol of the wild slipping into our everyday lives, fierce, elusive, and awe-inspiring. Feared by some, admired by many, he’s a living emblem of raw power, survival, and untamed beauty.

Captured at last by a wildlife team from Bengaluru, the healthy 230-kg male tiger now rests in safe hands, no longer a village menace, but a living reminder of nature’s fierce spirit. This Tiger Day, we salute this wild wanderer of Lucknow, the one who turned fear into fascination, chaos into awe, and proved that sometimes, the jungle doesn’t stay in the wild… it comes calling.