Tracking teams in Purulia forest wait to dart tigress | Bhubaneswar News
Bhubaneswar: Tranquillising teams from Odisha and West Bengal have taken position inside a forest near Bandwan in Purulia district to dart tigress Zeenat as it moved away from Jhargram’s Belpahari overnight.
The tigress has hardly allowed tracking teams to get a clear view for her tranquillisation. Wildlife officials said its elusive character has rather helped avoid conflict with humans.
“It keeps giving a slip to tracking teams, meaning it avoids humans, which is why it has not walked close to human habitation in the past two weeks despite its location being traced around human settlements in Jharkhand and West Bengal. Because of inhospitable topography, signals from the radio collar are disrupted. But the teams are on alert and she will be tranquillised any time,” said Prakash Gogineni, field director, Similipal.
Wildlife experts said Zeenat is unlikely to go to Sundarbans National Park because it is too far and the mangrove forests are not at all suitable for tigers from the central-India landscape. They hope Zeenat could follow the elephant corridor that it has been taking so far considering the routes covered. “If it came to Purulia from Belpahari, it could take a roundabout and make a comeback to the Similipal landscape as elephants of Bengal and Jharkhand come to Odisha’s Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts,” said former NTCA member secretary Anup Nayak.
It has been two weeks since the Tadoba-Andheri native left Similipal. Sources said leaving the Belpahari region is better because Lalgarh, an earlier conflict zone, is close by.
Between Nov 24 and Dec 8, Zeenat explored the northern part of Similipal but walked past its boundary to explore its own territory. Wildlife officials said that for 14 days, Zeenat stayed put in Similipal before embarking on a Jharkhand sojourn. Similipal, spread over 2,750 sq km, already has seven each of normal and melanistic tigresses.
The tigress has hardly allowed tracking teams to get a clear view for her tranquillisation. Wildlife officials said its elusive character has rather helped avoid conflict with humans.
“It keeps giving a slip to tracking teams, meaning it avoids humans, which is why it has not walked close to human habitation in the past two weeks despite its location being traced around human settlements in Jharkhand and West Bengal. Because of inhospitable topography, signals from the radio collar are disrupted. But the teams are on alert and she will be tranquillised any time,” said Prakash Gogineni, field director, Similipal.
Wildlife experts said Zeenat is unlikely to go to Sundarbans National Park because it is too far and the mangrove forests are not at all suitable for tigers from the central-India landscape. They hope Zeenat could follow the elephant corridor that it has been taking so far considering the routes covered. “If it came to Purulia from Belpahari, it could take a roundabout and make a comeback to the Similipal landscape as elephants of Bengal and Jharkhand come to Odisha’s Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts,” said former NTCA member secretary Anup Nayak.
It has been two weeks since the Tadoba-Andheri native left Similipal. Sources said leaving the Belpahari region is better because Lalgarh, an earlier conflict zone, is close by.
Between Nov 24 and Dec 8, Zeenat explored the northern part of Similipal but walked past its boundary to explore its own territory. Wildlife officials said that for 14 days, Zeenat stayed put in Similipal before embarking on a Jharkhand sojourn. Similipal, spread over 2,750 sq km, already has seven each of normal and melanistic tigresses.
