BARIPADA: As a final measure to capture tigress Zeenat and bring it back to Similipal Tiger Reserve, forest officials have closed all routes within a few kilometre radius of Bankura forest in West Bengal, where the big cat has been roaming since the past few days, to tranquilise it.
Speaking to The New Indian Express on Saturday, regional chief conservator of forests-cum-field director Prakash Chand Gogineni said around three additional expert tranquiliser teams besides another 150 forest officials have been engaged to track the movement of the tigress round-the-clock.
“Plastic nets have been put up within a few kilometre radius of Bankura forest to prevent Zeenat from moving to other locations. The Forest department of West Bengal is also extending all-out support to us in bringing back the big cat. Villages located in the fringes of Bankura forest are being issued precautionary measures to protect them from the tigress,” Gogineni said.
The big cat had been brought from the Tadoba-Andhari tiger reserve in Maharashtra over three weeks back to boost the tiger population in the Similipal Tiger Reserve.