The wild tiger which had entered into the white tiger safari of the Nandankanan Zoological Park on April 30 will stay in the zoo till its place of origin is not identified, said a 13-member technical expert team in its decision at a high-level meeting here on Wednesday.
The technical team said that the pugmarks and photographs of the wild tiger would be tallied with the pugmarks and photographs of tigers taken from different sanctuaries in the State. “The wild tiger would be released at that sanctuary, only where its pugmarks and photos match with previous ones,” said technical committee head and Nandankanan Zoo director Sudarshan Panda.
The technical committee members, including Athagarh DFO Arun Mishra, Chandaka DFO SN Mohapatra, Nandankanan DFO Chittaranjan Mishra, National Tiger Conservation Authority member Biswajeet Mohanty, the sarpanchs of Daruthenga and Raghunathpur panchayats, the representative of Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and the representative of the Central Zoo participated in the meeting.
The technical committee will submit its report to the State Government and the PCCF (Wildlife) regarding its decision. On the basis of the report of the technical team, a final decision would be taken by the State Government whether the tiger would stay in the zoo or not.
While the meeting was on, civil society organisations like the Nandankanan Anchalik Nagarik Manch (NANM), the Durgabahini, the Nandankanan Anchalik Nagarik Committee, the Nandankanan Suraksha Parishad and the guides of the zoo staged a demonstration in front of the zoo gate demanding housing the wild tiger for the benefit of the zoo and wildlife conservation.
The Manch members presented the views of tiger experts, who have opined that the inbreeding factor at Nandankanan is not at all congenial as the cubs are getting diseased and facing a premature death.
Scientifically and culturally, inbreeding is unhealthy. “For this reason, a wild tiger is essential for tiger production in the zoo so that the zoo gets healthy cubs,” said Manch convener Subash Chandra Patra.
The NANM members said the forest where the tiger was living earlier is still unknown. “It is our duty to sympathise with the tiger and give it a safe place,” said Patra.