Tigress Zeenat tracked and tranquilized in Bengal, under observation

Bhubaneswar, Dec 29: Tigress Zeenat, who had wandered away from Odisha’s Similipal Tiger Reserve nearly two weeks ago and entered West Bengal, has been successfully captured after being tranquilized.

Speaking to the media on Sunday, Prakash Gogineni, Regional Chief Conservator of Forests (RCCF) in Baripada, shared that the tigress was last located through her radio collar on Saturday. She was spotted in an open area near a dam close to a forest in the Bandwan region of West Bengal’s Bankura district.

Forest officials from both Odisha and West Bengal, who had been tracking her movements, acted swiftly upon locating her. A team equipped with tranquilizers surrounded the area and managed to sedate the three-year-old tigress with a dart. Once unconscious, she was carefully placed in a cage and transported to Alipore Zoo in Kolkata on Sunday afternoon, Gogineni said.

The tigress is now under veterinary observation, with her health being closely monitored. Once deemed fit for travel, she will be brought back to Similipal Tiger Reserve, he added.

Zeenat was originally translocated to Similipal from the Tadoba-Andheri Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra on November 14 as part of an initiative to enhance the genetic diversity of Similipal’s tiger population. After exploring the northern parts of the reserve between November 24 and December 8, she ventured beyond its boundaries in search of her own territory.