BHUBANESWAR : Tigress Zeenat will be re-released into the core area of Similipal soon, said PCCF wildlife Prem Kumar Jha on Monday.
Jha said a bigger enclosure (Boma) having adequate space for Zeenat’s movement has been readied in Similipal South Division where she would be released soon as part of her phased re-release into the Similipal core.
While the size of the present enclosure where the big cat has been kept for the last two months is less than two hectare, that of Boma will be eight to nine hectare.
After being tranquilised in West Bengal’s Bankura district, Zeenat was brought back to Similipal south on January 1 and has been kept in an enclosure where Jamuna, the first tigress brought from Tadoba landscape of Maharashtra, had been initially released.
Wildlife officials said Zeenat will be released again into the wild on the basis of the recommendation of the tiger supplementation committee formed for release of big cats in Similipal from the Central India landscape.
The PCCF wildlife said a steering committee and NTCA team during their visit to Similipal found Zeenat to be in good condition. The Forest department is now waiting for the estrous cycle of the tigress, the period when it would be receptive to mating. “This will also make the chances of Zeenat leaving the Similipal landscape thin,” forest officials said.