‘Why keep Zeenat in zoo’: NTCA tells Bengal to send tigress to Similipal reserve

NTCA has told West Bengal forest department to immediately shift the tigress (T163-S1) to Simlipal Tiger Reserve in Odisha

KOLKATA: The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) on Monday asked the West Bengal forest department why tigress Zeenat was shifted to the Alipore Zoo in Kolkata after being tranquilised and not transferred back to Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) in Odisha.

Forest officials carry tigress 'Zeenat' after tranquilising it, in Bankura of West Bengal on Sunday (PTI)

The tigress left the reserve for Jharkhand on December 9. entered West Bengal on December 20 through Jhargram and later moved to Purulia. She was captured in Bengal’s Bankura district 300km from STR on Sunday afternoon and taken to Alipore Zoo.

The apex body tasked with tiger conservation in India has also told the Bengal forest department to immediately shift the tigress (T163-S1) to Simlipal Tiger Reserve in Odisha.

“We have sent a letter to the West Bengal Forest department to know why the tigress was taken to Alipore Zoo. It should have been sent to Simlipal Tiger Reserve instead,” said NTCA member secretary Gobind Sagar Bhardwaj.

The three-year-old tigress, which was translocated from Maharashtra to STR in Odisha in November this year to improve the reserve’s genetic diversity, had moved out.

A senior official of the state forest department earlier in the day said Zeenat has been kept in the quarantine wing of the zoo where veterinarians would be monitoring its health before a decision is taken on its release.

NTCA officials, however, said a wild tiger after being captured should be released back into the wild instead of being taken to the zoo. A committee is set up to decide if the tiger can be shifted to a zoo only if the animal is ill or injured.

“If the animal is shifted to the zoo, it may lose its wild nature because of the human imprint. We have asked the forest department to immediately translocate it to Simlipal so that it may be released back in the wild again,” Bhardwaj said adding that they were waiting for a response from the state.

Top forest officials in West Bengal and the director of Alipore Zoo could not be contacted. Phone calls and messages went unanswered.

Odisha principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) Prem Kumar Jha said Zeenat would be sent to the core area of Similipal 3-4 weeks after being brought back to Odisha. “Once it is brought back to Similipal, we would keep it in the enclosure and then release it after watching its activities,” said Jha.