Baripada: Ten days after being put in a soft enclosure inside Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj following relocation from Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in Maharashtra, the second tigress ‘Zeenat’ was released was released into the core area of the sanctuary.
Sharing this information, PCCF (WL) & CWLW Susanta Nanda said tigress Zeenat was taken to the North Division Core Area of Similipal at 9.30 pm on Sunday and released in the reserve forest. The Forest Department will now monitor her for 24 hours.
“Tigress Zeenat was released from its soft enclosure. The new addition to the Simlipal family, brought as an interstate translocation program from TATR of Maharashtra, it would infuse much needed genetic diversity of Simlipal Tiger Reserve,” the PCCF said in a post on X.
‘Zeenat’ had been released into the soft enclosure inside the STR on November 15 after it was translocated from Tadoba.
Zeenat, aged around three years, was brought to Odisha after a 40-hour arduous journey in a special vehicle by a 10-member team from STR after being captured. It was then kept under observation for 12 hours before being released into the soft enclosure in north Similipal, a forest official said.
Zeenat is the second tigress after Jamuna brought to Odisha under the translocation programme to increase the population of tiger in the state. Currently, both tigers Jamuna and Zeenat are moving freely in Similipal.
Odisha had set the ball rolling for the ambitious tiger relocation project in Similipal landscape with arrival of the first big cat, Jamuna, from Maharashtra on October 27. Jamuna was conditioned in an enclosure in south Similipal and later released in the core area of STR south division.
Sources said the second tigress will be released in the core area of STR north. The two tigresses have been radio-collared.
This big cat supplementation programme is aimed at infusing a fresh gene pool in Similipal while combating inbreeding. STR houses 27 tigers and 13 among them are pseudo-melanistic due to genetic disorder caused by inbreeding which could, in the long run, adversely impact the population of the normal yellow-coated royal Bengal tigers.
Sources further said that a detailed project report has been prepared by the Forest Department to bring six tigers from Central India landscape to supplement the big cat population in STR. It will soon approach the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) for translocation of the remaining four tigers.
The inter-state tiger translocation is considered significant since it is the first in the state since suspension of a similar programme between Odisha and Madhya Pradesh in 2019 after it ran into trouble amid severe protests by villagers living on the fringes of Satkosia Tiger Reserve, where one male tiger Mahavir and a tigress Sundari from Kanha Tiger Reserve and Bandhavgarh respectively were introduced in 2018. While Mahavir was later found dead, Sundari was sent back to its original habitat in 2021 after it allegedly killed two persons.
The Forest department has also received nod from NTCA to introduce three more tigers, two male and a female, in Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary from Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. However, this may take some more time to commence, the sources added.
The suspended tiger relocation programme in Satkosia subject can also be resumed subject to compliance to certain conditions, including voluntary relocation of villages, creation of more inviolate space and enhanced protection measures.