Tigress Zeenat enters Bengal from Jharkhand: Odisha Forest dept

Bhubaneswar: Tigress Zeenat, which had strayed into a forest in Jharkhand from Similipal in Odisha some days ago, has entered West Bengal.

Tigress Zeenat has entered West Bengal after spending around 12 days in a forest under Chakulia range in Jharkhand. The big cat has reached Jhargram forest in Bengal. Officials of the Forest Department are constantly tracking Zeenat’s movement through signals from its radio collar, revealed Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) field director Prakash Chand Gogineni.

The three-year-old tigress had been translocated to Similipal in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district from Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in Maharashtra on November 14.

The tigress had been released to the wild on November 25 following her brief stay at a soft enclosure at the STR.

A team of the Forest Department in Odisha has been making all efforts to bring the tigress back to Similipal for last several days.

It is worth mentioning here that two tigresses—Jamuna and Zeenat—were brought to Odisha from Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve to infuse fresh gene pool to the big cat population in Similipal.

A few days after Zeenat’s migration to Jharkhand forest, Jamuna has moved out of Similipal and reached Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary in Balasore district.