Vidya, a two-year-old tigress that reportedly could not be sighted since Friday, when a portion of the retaining wall behind the Tiger enclosure caved in, was sighted within her enclosure itself on Saturday afternoon.
A team of animal keepers, along with the zoo veterinarian, are in the process of tranquilising the Royal Bengal Tigress, and transferring her to safety.
Zoo authorities said that the retaining wall behind the tiger enclosure caved in on Friday morning, leaving an open space. They immediately erected a chain link fence to cover it. While four tigers returned to their enclosure by evening, Vidya was missing.
Pug marks seen
In order to confirm the animal’s presence within the enclosure, the authorities left beef pieces in the area on Friday evening. On Saturday morning, the authorities found that the pieces had been eaten by the tigress and also saw pug marks.
As the enclosure is full of wild growth, sighting the animal had become a little difficult.
Efforts are on to clear the bushes and tranquilise Vidya.
Normal activity at zoo
K.S.S.V.P. Reddy, zoo director, said: “Since we put up the chain link fence within a couple of hours, it ensured that the animal did not stray into the open area of the zoo premises. There is no need for any panic and we also allowed the visitors into the zoo on Saturday.”
Vidya is the offspring of a white tigress and a normal male tiger. Once she is back in the animal house, the work of re-building the retaining wall would be taken up, Mr. Reddy said.
