Love For Odisha’s Tigress Zeenat Brings Jharkhand Tiger To Bengal!

Kolkata: A tiger from Jharkhand appears to be following the path taken by tigress Zeenat after it ventured out of Similipal reserve in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district.

While it is being speculated that the Jharkhand tiger is probably taking the same route after being attracted towards tigress Zeenat, West Bengal got its first glimpse as a trap camera was able to capture its picture on Saturday night.

As per information, forest officials, guards and a special team with tranquilliser guns are ready to sedate or capture the animal.

“One of our trap cameras was able to take its pictures. The situation remains the same, and we are tracking the tiger,” Debal Roy, the head of the forest force in West Bengal, was quoted by The Indian Express as saying.

There are many trap cameras placed around the area where the tiger is located. One of them was able to take two pictures while it passed by. The tiger is presently in a forest area in Purulia district in Bengal, bordering Jharkhand, forest department officials said.

The tiger is located near the Raika Hill area in Purulia, where it had come from Jhargram a few days ago after entering Bengal from Jharkhand on January 12.

This marks the second instance in less than a month that a big cat has been found in the forests of Purulia after tigress Zeenat.

On Friday night, the male tiger entering from Jharkhand on January 12, traversed to the Bankura border and returned to Purulia’s Bhararia hills early on Saturday morning when the image was captured.

Later in the afternoon, the foresters organised 14 teams with a total 300 members to locate and sedate the big cat. However, the tiger couldn’t be located till reports last arrived.

Like three-year-old tigress Zeenat from Odisha that entered Bengal on December 20 and captured on December 29, this tiger also followed the elephant corridors, as evident from its pugmarks, both during and after entering Bengal.

The tigress had left STR in the early hours of December 8 and made her way to Jharkhand and from there to West Bengal, covering more than 200 km and giving both foresters and people living near forested areas sleepless nights.

After 21 days, the elusive tiger was finally darted and captured on December 29. It was then taken to Alipore Zoo for blood and stool sample collection. West Bengal also formed a medical team to monitor the big cat, which was relocated to Similipal from Maharashtra’s Tadoba in November to strengthen its gene pool.