Bhubaneswar: Odisha Forest Department personnel are monitoring the movement of tigress Zeenat which strayed from Odisha’s Similipal Reserve Forest has been spotted in West Bengal’s Purulia district.
The three-year-old tigress brought from Maharashtra to Similipal Reserve Forest is fitted with a radio collar and is currently located in the Bandwan area of Purulia district.
The tigress earlier strayed into West Bengal from Jharkhand and roamed around in Jhargram and Paschim Medinipur district, West Bengal’s Chief Wildlife Warden Debal Roy told the media.
He said Forest personnel from Odisha are working with their Bengal counterparts in monitoring the movement of the big cat which has so far not shown any signs of aggression.
The tigress had covered not less than 50 km after straying from Similipal in Odisha but such behaviour is normal for tigers who wander several kilometres in search of a new territory, the Forest official said.
“Probably the forest belt of neighbouring states, having similar habitat, became a corridor for her and she is trying to set up a new territory. We are at work to drive her away to Similipal through the same route or if she is captured, release her back into the reserve forest in Odisha. We are hopeful there is no man-animal conflict,” the senior Forest official said.
“The prey base is low in the areas where it is presently located. So, we hope she turns back to the reserve since there is more prey there,” he said.
Meanwhile, the authorities of the Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) Sunday said that it was not averse to putting the tigress under sedation in order to bring her back to the core area of the National Park.
