Bhubaneswar: Tigress Zeenat was reintroduced to the wild at the Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) in Mayurbhanj district on Friday.
The three-year-old tigress, originally brought to Similipal from the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in Maharashtra under a translocation project, had strayed out of the reserve. It was tranquillized and rescued from a forest in Bankura district, West Bengal, 21 days after leaving Similipal.
“Zeenat was first re-released in the Chahala range and later escorted to the Jenabil range in the southern part of Similipal, within its core area. Our officials are closely monitoring her movements using the radio collar fitted on her,” said Forest and Environment Minister Ganesh Ram Singkhuntia.
Initially released into Similipal’s core area on November 25 after a brief stay in a soft enclosure, the tigress had strayed into Jharkhand’s Chakulia range on December 8. She then ventured into West Bengal’s Belpahari forest on December 20 before being tranquillized in Bankura district on December 29.
After undergoing a health check-up at Alipore Zoo in Kolkata, Zeenat was brought back to Similipal on January 1 and is now back in the reserve’s core area.
