The tigress being shifted after her capture
Kolkata: After spending over 10 days in Assam , Buxa tigress BTR-TF1 was captured from the Gilaguri area of Dotma revenue village, around 30 km from Raimona National Park, at 5:15 pm on Tuesday. The Bengal team left for Buxa with the tigress around 6 pm. She will be kept inside the 2.2-hectare enclosure,” Oraon said. This marks the third tranquillisation effort on the tigress in 34 days. She was first captured in Bihar’s Valmiki Tiger Reserve on Sept 29 and tranquillised again on Oct 1 to refit her radio collar after it came off soon after the initial capture. Bengal forest teams, including more than 30 personnel, officials from the Bodoland Territorial Council’s forest department, as well as researchers and trackers from Wildlife Institute of India (WII), had been tracking the tigress since Oct 24-25 when she first moved towards the Raimona landscape. She then shifted to Hatigarh, located near the park’s central range, where her collar stopped giving signals on the night of Oct 28. After her signals returned on the morning of Oct 30, she was located in a revenue village in the Dotma area, which is 18 km from Gosaigaon town.
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Bengal forest minister Manoj Kumar Oraon, who was present during the operation, said it took the team over two hours to finally tranquillise the tigress, who was elusive despite being spotted in a field. Asked if this tranquillisation frequency is too high, YV Jhala, former faculty and dean of Wildlife Institute of India, said: “It should not be a problem if required. Asked about the next phase of the project, where a male is likely to be brought from Valmiki, Oraon said that the next course of action would be decided in due course. So, we decided to capture it,” said an official.
The extensive operation to capture the tigress involved three kunki elephants from Bengal, six to seven earthmovers and forest, police and administrative personnel from both Bengal and Assam. “The tigress was in a field surrounded by nets on three sides. Even though we could spot her, she proved elusive, taking the team nearly two hours to finally tranquillise her with a dart fired from atop a kunki elephant. We are taking her back to Buxa now. But it also depends on what drugs are being used. However, the tigress preferred to stay on the edges of the forest villages as she travelled southwards and entered Rajendrapur forest village in the park’s western range. The department then decided to capture her considering the ensuing Kali Puja festivities. “It ventured inside Raimona National Park, but mostly chose to stay near human habitation. Download the TOI App.
The capture followed clearance from National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) that came on Monday afternoon, Oraon said.