A three-year-old tigress is giving jitters to the forest departments of Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand. Translocated from Maharashtra’s Tadoba-Andheri Tiger Reserve (TATR) to Similipal in Odisha, Zeenat is roaming the landscape and hot on her trail is a 150-strong team from the three states, constantly tracking the big cat’s movement through her radio collar signals. Over the last three weeks, it has covered a few hundred kilometres, moving from Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) to Chakulia in Jharkhand, touching Mayurjharna in Purulia district of West Bengal. Zeenat is part of the country’s first-ever programme for a tiger population’s genetic rescue, which is being experimented on in Similipal.
A rich habitat and part of the central India tiger landscape, it has about 27 felines including the rare melanistic tigers. The growing number of what is loosely called the ‘black tigers’ had prompted the National Tiger Conservation Authority to pitch for a tiger supplementation plan to improve genetic diversity, lest the population collapse. As part of the plan, STR was sanctioned two female tigers from TATR in the first phase. Jamuna arrived in October and has been circulating in the larger Similipal landscape. Zeenat landed the following month but moved out of the state’s geographical territory after about two weeks, sending the Odisha government into a tizzy. That resulted in the mounting of a massive exercise to track her and tranquilise it. The two neighbouring states are helping out.
However, Zeenat’s wild exploratory movements are natural for a young tigress to establish its territory. It presents challenges and offers learning as well. Odisha forest department, which simulated various scenarios as part of the exercise, responded swiftly by deploying field teams that coordinated well with their counterparts and devised precise surveillance. Simultaneous attempts to tranquilise the tigress are on. The task would also be to secure Zeenat from the local communities known to be hostile to wild animals in the past. Good working relationships with states for coordination and knowledge sharing are useful during such uncommon yet anticipated situations. As India mounts its tiger conservation strategies, it must also create a dedicated team of trackers, trained and equipped with the latest technology. Zeenat’s wild exploits also provide a unique opportunity to document its story, which can become a case study for the future.