Watch: Royal Bengal Tiger swims 120 km in Brahmaputra to reach temple island

A Royal Bengal tiger swam 120 km across the river Brahmaputra to a small island where the Umananda Temple is located causing a scare among the local population before it was eventually captured by forest department officials.

Ferries full of devotees headed to the Umananda Temple were evacuated as forest officials surrounded the river island and managed to tranquilise the big cat.

A group of construction workers working at the Umananda Temple in the middle of the river Brahmaputra near Guwahati were the first to spot the tiger. They were surprised to see the big cat swimming across to the small island in the river on Tuesday.

A unit of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was also alerted, along with the local police.

Forest officials said the tiger strayed from the Oranga National Park and swam to the island, which is just a 10-minute boat ride across the Brahmaputra from Guwahati city.