BHUBANESWAR: As tigress Zeenat completes 12 days in the South Similipal enclosure after its return from West Bengal on January 1, wildlife officials said the members of the steering committee will make a field visit to the tiger reserve soon to finalise a date for its re-release into the wild.
“Zeenat’s behaviour following its release in the enclosure has been normal like any other full-grown cat in the wild. A team from Similipal south division is continuously monitoring it. We are waiting for the decision of the steering committee to release the dispersing cat from the enclosure,” said an official from Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR).
Sources at the wildlife headquarters here said, with 12 days having passed since release of the three-year-old tigress in the new enclosure, the steering committee headed by a chief conservator of forests (CCF) rank official is likely to pay field visit to the tiger reserve this week to take stock of the field situation and finalise a suitable date for its release in the wild.
The officer said the state wildlife wing is also in touch with the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in this regard.
Forest and Environment minister Ganesh Ram Singhkhuntia had earlier informed that the Forest department is planning to release Zeenat in the core of Similipal south division considering the dense forest and prey base it offers to the big cats. Jamuna, the first tigress brought from Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) of Maharashtra, had also been released in Similipal south. It has now been tracked to the Kuldiha forests within the same landscape.
Notably, Zeenat had moved out of Similipal on December 7 night and was recaptured in Bankura district of West Bengal after 23 days of hectic struggle by forest wings of three states of Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal. It was brought back to Similipal after a health check-up at Alipore Zoo in Kolkata, early morning on January 1.