Hundreds of forest officials from West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha are camping in Purulia forests at the moment but the big cat, Zeenat, is still elusive. It was last traced in the green patches of Raika forests here today morning through GPS tracking devices.
The three-and-a-half-year-old tigress of Simlipal tiger reserve in Odisha, who has crossed over to Bengal, reached Purulia on Sunday morning after entering the state through Jhargram, a few days ago.
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Already, senior forest officials from Sundarbans Tiger Reserve and state forest department have rushed to Purulia along with Similipal Tiger Reserve officials.
The forest cover in Purulia is 1,500 hectare and the movement of wildlife is not predictable, while all activities stop after sunset.
Anjan Guha, divisional forest officer (DFO) of Purulia said that already 17 different teams are waiting to catch the tigress. “It is our first priority to catch her safely and hand over to officials of Similipal Tiger Reserve,” he added.
He said that traps have already been laid since Sunday with buffalo and goats, but the big cat had not shown any interest. On Monday, two pigs are also kept near the trap cage and even tranquilising guns are also ready for any emergency situation.
Two expert shooters with tranquiliser guns have also been sent to the site.
The fact that is worrying the forest officials is that Zeenat must be hungry and tired after walking hundreds of miles from Mayurbhanj district in Odisha and she is yet to kill a prey.
“We feel that the tigress must be killing herbivorous animals here as there are a lot of deer in the forests, that’s why it is not leaving the hideout,” said the ranger of Bandwan.
Chief conservator of forests of West Bengal said that efforts are on to send back the tigress to Odisha and around 15 to 18 different teams are working near the site. Even trap cameras are also installed to trace the activities of the big cat in the forest and her exact location.
Six radio collar antennas are being used by forest officials of the three states to trace the tigress.
