At her temporary new home the runaway tigress Zeenat seems to be perfectly alright, tamed down and her vital parameters were “good” and undergoing a series of medical examinations by the veterinary surgeons at the Alipore Zoological Garden.
At the zoo’s healthcare unit, Zeenat is kept in an exclusive enclosure under the active surveillance and clinical supervision by the expert vets and disease diagnostic procedures, as one senior zoo official said: “His treatment has already started, besides deworming in phases today. The captured tigress’s health has remained a priority and the vets are trying to facilitate its recovery at the earliest.” Zeenat showed some signs of post-sedation stress, especially as she’d to struggle against repeated tranquilisation attempts within the confined forest patch at Gosaindihi in Ranibandh here, since Saturday afternoon.
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Following National Tiger Conservation Authority’s guidelines, the captured tigress needed to be de-germinated first, because while wandering in the wild she’d preyed on cattle, so there’s every chance of acquiring viral or bacterial infection,” said Dr S Kulandaivel, chief conservator of forests (central).
Tired Zeenat wasn’t offered food on Monday as she’s yet to recover the sedative impacts.
The tigress had escaped from the Similipal Tiger Reserve in Odisha on 8 December night and wandered across the Odisha, Jharkhand and Bengal forests for 21 days.
It may take at least half-a-week for Zeenat to leave Alipore zoo hospital for Similipal, as was learnt today. Odisha’s chief wildlife warden P K Jha today hinted that a soft enclosure is being prepared for Zeenat now. He told reporters, “The tigress will be kept there for a longer period to ensure better adaptation in her new region.”
