West Bengal forest officials have issued an alert in villages, hotels and resorts in Jhargram district after three-year-old tigress Zeenat crossed over to the state from Jharkhand on Friday, covering a total distance of over 50 km from Simlipal in Odisha.
Villagers and tourists remained vigilant even as experts from Sunderban Tiger Reserve were ready with nets and teams with tranquilisers waited on ‘machans’ to locate the tigress.
“We are handling the matter with utmost caution. The tigress is on the move. We have teams from Sunderbans in the area, among others. We are trying to use nets like in Sunderbans to capture the tigress. Tranquilising is also an option. We are taking care so that the tigress is not harmed,” state Forest Minister Birbaha Hansda told The Indian Express over phone.
State forest officials said they are able to track Zeenat constantly since she has a radio collar. At present, she is located inside the forest area in the Simulpal gram panchayat area under Belpahari police station limits.
“The tigress is constantly on the move in a clandestine manner. Though we know its location, we are yet to sight it. We are trying to understand her movements and behaviour pattern. She is avoiding contact with humans and even forest officials. Whenever we are nearing her, the tigress moves way. This is good since it will avoid conflict, but it also makes the job of catching her tougher,” said a senior forest official from Jhargram.
“Besides experts from Sunderbans who are trying to capture it with nets (cordoning off a wide area with nets), last night we had tranquilising teams on machans (platforms on trees) but in vain,” added the official who leads a team on the ground. Police officers have also been deployed in the area.
Awareness drives are on in local villages. People have been directed not to venture into the forest and to move in groups if they need to leave their houses. Villagers and children in the area where the tigress is located have been asked to remain indoors.
“We have also alerted all hotels and resorts in the area. This is peak tourist season. We want to sensitise tourists. We want to avoid a conflict at any cost,” said a forest official.
Zeenat was introduced in Odisha’s Simlipal Tiger Reserve on November 14 from the Tadoba-Andhari Reserve in Maharashtra as part of a programme to strengthen the reserve’s gene pool.
On December 10, she left the Similipal reserve and reached Jharkhand, covering at least 35 km. After staying in Jharkhand’s Chakulia area for over a week, Zeenat crossed another 15 km and entered Jhargram in West Bengal on Friday.
Experts believe it is common for tigers to cover distances to find a suitable area or territory with a good prey base.