The three-year-old menacing NT-1 tiger that was brought from Talodhi Forest Range in Chandrapur district to Gorewada Rescue Centre on July 20 is now being shifted to Maharajbag zoo on Wednesday morning, following permission granted by Nitin Kakodkar, Chief Wildlife Warden, Maharashtra.

 

Maharajbag zoo had requested Forest Department to give it a tiger as companion to Jaan tigress in the zoo for biological requirement. Kakodkar granted the permission and wrote a letter to the Divisional Manager, Gorewada project, on Tuesday to shift the tiger to Maharajbag zoo. Accordingly, the zoo authorities are making arrangements with the department to shift the big cat to the zoo. Kakodkar has made clear to zoo authorities that the tiger should not be kept on public display without permission from the Central Zoo Authority.

 

NT-1 sub-adult tiger was captured by a team of veterinarians and forestmen on July 19 after tranquilisinhjg it in compartment no: 579 Govindpur jungle, Talodhi Forest Range falling in Brahmapuri Forest Division. The tiger had killed three persons there and caused terror to villagers and hence Kakodkar had asked to capture it. The beast was brought o Gorewada on July 20 morning for treatment and now it is physically fit.

 

Meanwhile, three female tiger cubs, including Jaan, were brought on January 23, 2009 from Junona tank side in Chandrapur district as they got separated from their mother. That time they were not even one-month-old. Now, the age of Jaan is over ten years. The zoo authorities had shifted Cherry tigress to Kanan Pandhari Zoological Park at Bilaspur and the other Lee tigress to Gorewada Rescue Centre. The zoo has only one tigress Jaan. The Central Zoo Autrhority has already given permission to the zoo for pairing the beast, said Dr Sunil Bawaskar, In-charge Officer, Maharajbag zoo. A committee of wildlife experts will meet shortly to decide whether NT-1 tiger should be released in the wilderness or kept in captivity, he added.