STR implements diverse diet plan for tigress Zeenat | Bhubaneswar News
Bhubaneswar: Amid concerns from wildlife experts that feeding wild boar regularly to tigress Zeenat will make it obese, authorities at Similipal Tiger Reserve have assured that her diet is being carefully managed to ensure variety and maintain her agility.
Anup Nayak, former member secretary of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), said, “Giving only wild boar will lead to obesity due to high fat content. Also, hunting will be stereotyped”.
STR officials said instead of wild boar, the tigress will be served chital for some days, followed by sambar. Zeenat’s enclosure has been enlarged to facilitate free movement and provide a sense of natural habitat.
“The enclosure has been set up at a place where prey density is impressive. The wildlife wing has created a camouflaged passage to the enclosure, allowing nearby sambar and chital to enter, after which the gate is closed. The tigress is being monitored through CCTV,” said Similipal field director Prakash Gogineni.
Zeenat’s willingness to hunt different prey species not only allayed the concerns of experts but also indicated healthy predatory behaviour.
However, wildlife experts have raised concerns about the practice of continuously providing prey to tigers in enclosures. They argue that this artificial feeding system creates a problematic dependency, where tigers begin to associate food availability with human presence. “When prey is regularly handed down to them without any effort on their part, the predators lose their natural hunting instincts and become reliant on external factors,” observed an expert.
On Jan 1, three-year-old Zeenat, brought from Tadoba-Andheri Tiger Reserve as part of an inter-state tiger translocation project, was released into a soft enclosure in Similipal, four days after it was darted in a forest in Bengal’s Bankura district. Zeenat returned to Similipal 24 days after it dispersed to Jharkhand and then to Bengal.
Anup Nayak, former member secretary of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), said, “Giving only wild boar will lead to obesity due to high fat content. Also, hunting will be stereotyped”.
STR officials said instead of wild boar, the tigress will be served chital for some days, followed by sambar. Zeenat’s enclosure has been enlarged to facilitate free movement and provide a sense of natural habitat.
“The enclosure has been set up at a place where prey density is impressive. The wildlife wing has created a camouflaged passage to the enclosure, allowing nearby sambar and chital to enter, after which the gate is closed. The tigress is being monitored through CCTV,” said Similipal field director Prakash Gogineni.
Zeenat’s willingness to hunt different prey species not only allayed the concerns of experts but also indicated healthy predatory behaviour.
However, wildlife experts have raised concerns about the practice of continuously providing prey to tigers in enclosures. They argue that this artificial feeding system creates a problematic dependency, where tigers begin to associate food availability with human presence. “When prey is regularly handed down to them without any effort on their part, the predators lose their natural hunting instincts and become reliant on external factors,” observed an expert.
On Jan 1, three-year-old Zeenat, brought from Tadoba-Andheri Tiger Reserve as part of an inter-state tiger translocation project, was released into a soft enclosure in Similipal, four days after it was darted in a forest in Bengal’s Bankura district. Zeenat returned to Similipal 24 days after it dispersed to Jharkhand and then to Bengal.
