Bhubaneswar: After several days of search and efforts, the Forest Officials finally able to tranquilize tigress Zeenat, which strayed from Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) to Bankura in West Bengal.
The tigress had kept wildlife officials of both the states on edge for over a week after leaving STR. Officials said the tigress was tranquillised with a single dart shot at 4:09 pm at Bankura area of West Bengal, after earlier attempts to sedate her failed.
The animal’s vital parameters would be examined before deciding her temporary accommodation, the officials said.
State Principal Chief Conservator for Forests (PCCF) Wildlife, Prem Kumar Jha said, “The tigress was sedated and caged near Gopalpur village of Bankura district at around 4 pm. It is now being transported to the Alipore Zoological Garden in Kolkata for a health examination. From there it will be brought back to the Similipal tiger reserve.”
The Tigress was in sound health condition and it will be fine, he observed.
Zeenat could not be sedated during a previous attempt despite tranquillisers being used on Sunday morning. The operation resumed in the afternoon after veterinarians gave their approval, forest officials said.
A team of forest officials from West Bengal and Odisha and experts from Sundarbans carried out the operation.
Zeenat had been relocated from Maharashtra’s Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) to Similipal last month to introduce a new gene pool to the tiger population.
After moving out from STR, the female cat was first traced to a forest in the Chakulia range of the Jamshedpur forest division in Jharkhand.
A 15-member team from Odisha was soon dispatched to the neighbouring state to bring the dispersing tigress back to the STR.
However, the illusive cat changed its location further on December 20, entering the forests of Belpahari within the Jhargram forest division in West Bengal, covering over 120 km.