TV
In a piece of good news for Odisha’s big cat conservationists and the wildlife lovers, tigress Zeenat, who was previously relocated from Maharashtra’s Tadoba sanctuary, is expected to give birth in Similipal of Mayurbhanj district this September, official sources said on Tuesday.
Also Read: Tiger relocation travesty! After Zeenat, tigress Yamuna ‘escapes’ into Kuldiha forests
After bonding with a native male tiger, her pregnancy signals successful wild adaptation and reproduction.
According to sources, Zeenat, the three-year-old tigress from Maharashtra’s Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, has taken to the wilds of Odisha’s Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) in Mayurbhanj district remarkably well.
After being released into the core forest area this May, she has not only adapted to her new habitat but has also found a mate. Wildlife officials now confirm that she is pregnant and expected to give birth in September 2025.
After being set free from a larger enclosure, Zeenat had made her way from the Jamunagarh to Gudgudia, selecting it as her new territory. Last month, forest trackers recorded her interaction with the native male T-12 (a melanistic tiger). Their mating relationship resulted in her current pregnancy, Forest Department officials confirmed.
Zeenat had an eventful journey since arriving in Similipal in November 2024. Shortly after her initial release, she fled the sanctuary, travelling through Jharkhand and into West Bengal’s Burdwan forest in Purulia district.
A collaborative effort between the West Bengal and Odisha forest departments led to her safe rescue and return to Similipal in January 2025.
Since then, she has been gradually reintegrated—first into a soft enclosure, then a larger one—before her final release into the wild in May. The Forest Department now sees her pregnancy as a significant achievement in both rehabilitation and breeding efforts.
