Another tigress released in soft enclosure in Similipal

Baripada: Another tigress brought from Maharashtra was released in a ‘soft enclosure’ in the core area of Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) in Odisha on Friday. The three-year-old tigress, named Zeenat, was brought to the STR on Thursday evening from Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra.

It was tranquilised on November 13 and then transported to Similipal by road via Raipur, Sambalpur and Jashipur, a senior forest official said. The tigress is healthy and active.

A special team of Odisha’s Forest department, comprising a veterinarian, a range officer and an Assistant Conservator of Forests, went to Maharashtra to bring the tigress. Another tigress was brought to Similipal on October 27 with the approval of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). It was kept in a quarantine before being released into the wild recently.

The Forest department is planning to bring six tigers from Central India to supplement the big cat population in STR, which now has 27 tigers and 12 cubs. The tigers are being brought under the big cat supplementation project with the objective of introducing a new gene pool to the population at Similipal.