Zeenat moves to Mayurjharna reserve, considered safe now

Bhubaneswar: Tigress Zeenat's latest location is Bengal's Mayurjharna elephant reserve, where it is safe as it is a reserve. Also, it has an elephant corridor having contiguity with Odisha forest. The path is often used by elephants in Bengal and Jharkhand to shuttle. Wildlife officials hope Zeenat follows the forested passage and reaches Similipal.Mayurjharna reserve comprises parts of geographical areas of West Midnapur, Purulia and Jhargram. "Two teams from Bengal and one from Odisha wildlife wing are ready to tranquillise the animal once it is clearly visible in the forest," said Prem Kumar Jha, principal chief conservator of forests (Odisha), wildlife wing. "Mayurjharna forest is deep, and elephants keep moving along its corridors. The tigress' location has been traced, but it is not visible. Our ultimate goal is to tranquillise it and bring it back to Similipal. If it returns on its own, it is better," Jha added.Wildlife experts said Zeenat is unlikely to go to Sundarbans National Park in Bengal because it is too far, and the mangrove-type forest is not suitable for tigers from the central-India landscape. Thus, there is hope that it could follow the elephant corridor that it has been taking so far, considering the routes covered. Between Nov 24 and Dec 8, Zeenat explored the northern part of Similipal but walked past its boundary to explore its own territory.An expert from Wildlife Institute of India (WII), however, presented a bleak future as far as Zeenat's suo moto return is concerned. "Zeenat, soon after being released in Similipal's wild, must have got an opportunity to interact with existing tigers. The monitoring teams must have data on how deep it went into the existing tiger habitat. It can be inferred that it had subtle interaction with resident tigers and then faced rejection, walking away in search of her territory. In fact, a three-year-old female wants only a secure habitat, unlike a male, which wants both a habitat and a mate," said the wildlife expert on condition of anonymity.According to wildlife officials, 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 female tigers. Anjan Guha, divisional forest officer, Purulia, said they are tracking the movement to ensure the animal's safety as well as that of people.
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