The tiger, a healthy six-year-old male, had been known to be in the vicinity of the zoo for sometime when the decision was made to trap it. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) objected to the illegal holding of the wild tiger, saying that zoo officials must follow the standard operating procedure for dealing with straying tigers.
NTCA requires that any healthy, young wild tigers that stray near human habitation must be radio-collared and released in the original habitat or in a habitat with adequate prey and without danger of territorial conflict with another tiger. It mandates each state's Chief Wildlife Warden with the responsibility for implementing this procedure.
The NTCA has told Chief Wildlife Warden Janardan Dibakar Sharma that the tiger should be released in Satkosia Tiger Reserve, a low-density tiger refuge. However, Sharma has not taken action, instead simply reporting that authorities at the zoo are considering retaining the tiger for breeding purposes.The Wildlife Wing of the Forest and Environment Department has also indicated that it may support retaining the tiger. On May 4th, however, Environment and Forest Minister Bijoyshree Routray said, “I have given my view. In my opinion, the tiger should be released back into the wild."
In the meantime, the Nandankanan Zoo is being allowed to ponder the animal's fate, and to keep the tiger in a cage, raising questions as to the authority of the NTCA and the MoEF over zoos, the Nandankanan Zoo's illegal actions in trapping and holding the tiger, and the implication that at a time when India has a mere 1,700 tigers in the wild, putting a healthy tiger in captivity to breed more zoo animals takes conservation precedence over ensuring that wild tigers remain in the wild.
Author & Source: Jennifer Scarlott.
