21 days on, wandering Odisha tigress sedated, captured in West Bengal village

KOLKATA/BHUBANESWAR: Tigress Zeenat's 21-day hide-and-seek with forest officials of three states since straying out of Similipal in Odisha on December 8 came to a close at 3.56pm Sunday when she was tranquillised and captured in a village of Bengal's Bankura after five failed attempts since Saturday afternoon.

Zeenat's walk on the wild side took her on a nearly 300km journey through Odisha, Jharkhand and Bengal as forest personnel tracking her tried every possible strategy to keep her from entering human habitation.

After her capture at Gosaindihi village in Bankura, the drowsy tigress embarked on another 200km trip - this time on wheels - to Kolkata's Alipore zoo.

Once a basic health check is done, she will be "sent to the right destination", a source in the Bengal forest department said.

Odisha's chief wildlife warden Prem Kumar Jha said Zeenat would be escorted "back to Similipal". He said the tigress was being taken to the Alipore zoo only for a health check.

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