In a rare incident, the authorities of Nandankanan Zoo have been successful in capturing a wild Royal Bengal Tiger (RBT) today as the animal walked into its safari on its own.
The tiger had recently set panic in the Zoo near here as it was freely roaming in the adjacent sanctuary area for the last few months.
"The animal was trapped in the tiger safari by tracking its movement through CCTV cameras", Sudarshan Panda, the director of Nandankanan Zoo said.
Some of Zoo staff had earlier reported the presence of a wild tiger in the forest adjacent to the zoo.
"We had also got pug marks of a feline near lion and tiger safari areas. We had fixed trap cameras to monitor its movement and had fixed a CCTV also," an official said.
The Zoo authority had set up a 20 member team to capture the tiger.
"Our team members found through the CCTV camera when it entered the first gate of the tiger safari at about 12.30 am yesterday. Immediately the gate was closed from behind," the official said.
Later, the Zoo staff closed one gate after another by finding its movement in the tiger, said C R Mishra, deputy director of the zoo.
"It is a healthy male tiger of about 7-years-old," he added.
According to the chief conservator of forest (wildlife), J D Sharma, the tiger might have sneaked into Nandankanan Sanctuary area from Satkosia Tiger Reserve.
"It could have come in search of food," Sharma said.
Asked about the next course of action, Sharma said the Zoo authority would draw attention of the National Zoo Authority and National Tiger Conservation Authority regarding rehabilitation of the animal.
"We do not know whether the captured tiger will remain in Nandankanan. Presently, it is inside the tiger safari," Panda said adding that there are 24 tigers in Nandankanan zoo.
Sources said a tigress from wild had entered into Nandankanan zoo in 1967 and kept in captivity.
