It's a great sigh of relief for the authorities of the Nandankanan Zoological Park that the wild tiger, which had entered into the white tiger safari of the zoo here on April 30 and then escaped from the enclosure on May 31 night by jumping over the 18-feet iron railing of the enclosure, finally returned to the zoo late on Sunday night.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) for Wildlife J D Sharma confirmed that the tiger re-entered the zoo at around 11.50 pm on Sunday. “We have informed the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) officials to visit the zoo and decide about its place of habitat as soon as possible,” said Sharma.
Sharma said the tiger had fled from the enclosure by jumping the 18-ft long iron grill as there was no outer cover on it. But this time they had prepared a safe special enclosure with extra iron railing so that the tiger can't go out, he added.
The zoo authorities had installed five closed CCTV cameras over two enclosures and two monitor setup to track the wild tiger as it was roaming around the nearby jungle area of the tiger safari. Through trap cameras, they were tracking the movement of the wild tiger which was frequently coming near the tiger safari, said the zoo officials.
After much hue and cry over the escape of the big cat, the zoo authorities had been in embarrassment but its returning has created a sigh of relief for both the zoo authorities and the locals as they were in a state of unease due to wild animal on prowl.
The locals had threatened to gherao the PCCF (Wildlife) office if the wild tiger caused harm to anybody in the area. Earlier, a few civil society organisations like the Nandankanan Anchalik Nagarik Manch had staged a demonstration in front of the zoo gate demanding housing of the wild tiger for the benefit of the zoo and wildlife conservation.
The civil society forums said that there are 30 wild tigers staying in various zoos across the country. In Gujarat, 26 wild lions and 16 Kalarapatria tigers are staying in the zoo. If the wild animals live there safely, why the Government officials and civil society organisations are making an issue regarding staying of the wild tiger in the Nandankanan zoo, they asked.
Though a 13-member technical expert team in its decision at a high-level meeting here on May 15 had said that the wild tiger would stay in the zoo till its place of origin was not identified, the organisations again raised the old demand to keep the tiger for the wellbeing of the zoo.
