The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has questioned the legality of the move by the State Forest Department to relocate Royal Bengal Tigress Sundari from the Satkosia Tiger Reserve to the Nandankanan Zoological Park.
Citing the National Zoo Policy, 1998, the authority shot off a letter to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) to reconsider the decision of shifting the tigress to Nandankanan.
“Except for obtaining founder animals for approved breeding programme and infusion of new blood into inbred groups, no zoo can collect animals from the wild,” the letter from the CZA highlighted.
The authority requested the PCCF to take a decision in accordance with the National Zoo Policy.
The letter was in response to a complaint filed by wildlife activist Ajay Dubey, who termed the decision of the State Government to transfer tigress Sundari to Nandankanan as illegal.