In a first, a fully cured and ‘wilded’ Royal Bengal tigress, captured from the Sunderbans 17 months ago has been released into the wild. The big cat had suffered a major posterior disability and was unable to hunt.
“We took the initiative only when we were sure that the animal could survive in a stressful terrain like Sunderbans,” Ujjwal Kumar Bhattacharya, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), West Bengal, told The Hindu over the telephone on Saturday.
Captured on March 4, 2013, the three-year-old tigress was released in the core area of the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve on Friday.
The animal has been fitted with two transmitters — one satellite and one VHS — which will help locate her and also identify her home range.
The West Bengal Forest Department carefully followed the standard operating procedure of the National Tiger Conservation Authority and was advised by scientists from the Wildlife Institute of India, Mr. Bhattacharya said.
Other than treating the animal, emphasis was also on ‘wilding’ the tigress. Initially, she was kept in a 20-meter cage and live prey was introduced into the cage, forest officials said. “Later we introduced her into something we call a soft release facility where the animal was left in a one-hectare area and live prey were made available to ascertain her ability to hunt,” Mr. Bhattacharya said.
In earlier cases, tigers straying into human habitation have been released into the wild after being tranquilised and kept under observation for a few days. Usually, injured tigers that cannot adapt to the wild are sent to zoos.
According to experts, Sunderbans with its difficult terrain and limited prey base is more challenging to the mighty animal than other habitats of the country.
Sunderbans is the only mangrove forest in the world where tigers are found. As per the latest census, the number of tigers on the Indian side of Sunderbans is 106.
