CCTV footage of the tiger when it was roaming around inside Nandankanan

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 2: Fresh debate has erupted over releasing the Royal Bengal tiger that had strayed into the Nandankanan zoo last year from the wild.

While experts said the feline should be kept in the zoo as it had already adapted itself to the zoo environment, the forest officials said they were bound to release the tiger in the forest following directions of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

Tiger expert Lala A.K. Singh said the animal should be kept in the zoo.

“It would have been better if the authorities had let the animal go within a fortnight of it straying into the zoo. But more than a year has passed since it has been kept captive. So at this point of time, the tiger might not be able to cope with the wild habitat,” said Singh, who was also the former senior research officer of forest department.

He added that a wild gene would also be helpful to the zoo authorities for breeding purpose.

On the other hand, wildlife activists also apprehended that the tiger would not be able to adapt to wild habitat. “The authorities have already delayed the process of releasing the tiger in to wild. They must ensure that the animal is able to acclimatise to the new environment,” said member secretary of People For Animal Sanjib Kumar Das.

Forest officials said the delay was because of the time taken by the NTCA to release funds. “A two-member Wildlife Institute of India team that visited the zoo last month have submitted a report to the NTCA. We are waiting for the release of fund and we will tell the NTCA to release the fund as early as possible,” said principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife), S.S. Srivastava.

However sources said that the NTCA had asked the Wildlife Institute of India, which had prepared the detailed roadmap of releasing the tiger to the wild, to reduce the fund. The institute had given an estimate of Rs 74 lakh, which includes putting a radio collar and monitoring the tiger after release. “The institute had proposed for an independent scholar to monitor the tiger after its release along with adequate manpower. But the NTCA has asked the institute to reduce the budget,” said a forest official.

The seven-year-old tiger, which strayed into the zoo on April 29 last year, was the second to have done so. The first case took place in 1960 another when a Royal Bengal tiger from Chandaka forest had jumped into the zoo on its own for mating.

Safaris suspended

The authorities of Nandankanan zoo have decided to close the tiger, lion, beer and herbivore safaris from tomorrow. The decision was taken for annual maintenance of the safaris. Zoo officials said that the date of reopening of safaris would be notified soon.