Kolkata: In a review meeting of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) last month, Global Tiger Forum secretary general Rajesh Gopal, who chaired the meet, criticised the “hurried release of injured tigress” into the wild at Buxa Tiger Reserve.The Oct 15 review meeting observed that the tigress, brought from Bihar’s Valmiki, should not have been released despite “visible injuries to all the claws of her forepaws”.Gopal — also a member of the NTCA expert panel formed to oversee the Buxa tiger reintroduction project — questioned the lengthy transportation route, involving a four-hour road journey to Gorakhpur, a 2.5-hour flight aboard an IAF aircraft to Hasimara and another road journey to Buxa.The report, sent to authorities on Oct 27, also recommended sourcing tigers from Assam’s Manas or Kaziranga in future to minimise travel time and stress.According to the meeting minutes, a copy of which is with TOI, the tigress was in good health and without any injury when she was darted in Valmiki on Sept 29. While the first reversal antidote was administered around 5.52pm, a second (half dose) was given around 10.18pm as she was “displaying resedation effects”.“But, she struggled inside the transport cage during the journey. By the time she reached Hasimara on Sept 30, she was awake, aggressive and charging at the cage gates,” it said.“A veterinary examination on Oct 1 found abrasion injuries on the paw pads of both forelimbs, with the claws appearing filed or worn out. It was observed that the injuries occurred after the reversal of the immobilising drugs,” said the report. It was suggested that her release should have been deferred until the injuries’ extent was assessed and treatment prescribed.An official, though, said the tigress made kills, both wild herbivores and domestic pigs, after she left the acclimatisation enclosure on Oct 4.Sources also alleged lapses during the tigress’s recent capture near Raimona in Assam on Nov 3, questioning the lack of coordination. “If landscape management was an issue, why were Assam officials not invited for the release? Why was a joint monitoring protocol not followed? They are imposing central Indian landscape experience here. No lessons have been learnt from the Zeenat episode,” a source said.Sources also wondered if permission from NTCA to capture the tigress in Assam “had actually arrived”, raising questions over procedural clearances and pointing to NTCA’s possible reluctance in giving the nod, particularly after the outcome of the Oct 15 review meeting.Calls to senior NTCA officials and Bengal forest minister Manoj Kumar Oraon remained unanswered.Tigress still inside BuxaThe Buxa tigress, which escaped from her enclosure on Sunday, is said to be still inside the Buxa Tiger Reserve limits. She was last located in the Kumargramduar area on Monday afternoon and was being monitored by tracking teams and three kunki elephants, said sources. “Efforts are being made so that it can’t cross Sankosh and reach Assam again. We are getting more elephants from nearby divisions for this operation,” said a source. The tigress dug a hole beneath the enclosure on Sunday afternoon to get out. Sources said she had made several such attempts since she was brought back to Buxa from Assam on Nov 3. – Pinak Priya Bhattacharya
