BARIPADA: The Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) management in Mayurbhanj district safely released three-year-old tigress Zeenat into the core area of STR North division late on Sunday evening.
Regional chief conservator of forests (RCCF)-cum-field director of STR Prakash Chand Gogineni said the tigress was released into the core area of STR North after being kept in the soft enclosure for 11 days.
“It moved out of the soft enclosure only at around 9.30 pm. At least three teams of forest staff including a veterinary doctor, biologist and tiger squad are monitoring the big cat’s movement round-the-clock ever since it has been released into the core area,” he said adding, the tigress was released into the wild only after receiving consent from PCCF Susanta Nanda.
The tigress was translocated from Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra to boost the big cat population in Similipal. It reached Jashipur on November 14 and was released into the soft enclosure, spread over one acre in the core area of STR, the next day. After around 13 hours of being released into the soft enclosure, the tigress had killed a wild boar and drunk water.
Zeenat is the second tigress to have been brought in from Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve. Another two-and-a-half-year-old tigress Jamuna was translocated to STR on October 28. It was released into the core area on November 9. STR authorities said Jamuna has been roaming for around 8-9 km daily ever since its release into the core area.
As per the All Odisha Tiger Estimation (AOTE) 2023-24 report, Similipal has around 27 tigers and 12 cubs. However, in-breeding and lack of migratory flow have emerged as major threats to the striped predators of STR. The spike in the number of pseudo-melanistic tigers, that now constitute close to half of Similipal’s total big cat population, has also been referred by the experts as an indication of lack of genetic diversity within the population.