After 21-day, three-state escapade, runaway Zeenat captured

Fugitive tigress Zeenat was finally tranquilised and captured here today, 21 days after she escaped from the Similipal Tiger Reserve in Odisha.

- KANCHAN SIDDIQUI

The captured tiger, secured in a specially designed cage, was dispatched to the Alipore Zoo in Kolkata within an hour. It will be kept under observation by veterinary experts for a couple of days before being returned to the Similipal Tiger Reserve, senior forest officials said.

"The tigress was tranquilised with a single dart today at 3.56 p.m," said S Kulandaivel, Chief Conservator of Forests (Central). "The tranquilisation by experts from the Sundarban Tiger Reserve, assisted by our own officials from both the Bankura and Purulia divisions, was a fantastic operation and a coordinated effort, along with experts from Odisha. It was a fantastic team effort,"

Yesterday at 2:26 p.m, forest officials fired a tranquiliser dart aiming to sedate Zeenat, but missed the target. Drones had captured her thermal images in the Gosaindihi small jungle patch, and signals from the tigress's radio collar confirmed her location. As the first dart failed to penetrate, another dart was fired at 3:45 pm and then at 8:30 pm, both of which also missed the target.