Kolkata: Foresters are in no hurry to release BTR-TF1, the three-year-old tigress relocated from Bihar’s Valmiki Tiger Reserve, into the wild, with the big cat still recovering from the rigours of capture, transport and collaring.The tigress has yet to make a kill inside her 2.2-hectare enclosure at Buxa, where spotted deer have been kept as live prey. The department is supplementing her diet with beef and buffalo meat.“It can be seen moving around the enclosure, taking stock of its new surroundings. It is yet to make a kill. It will need time. We won’t rush her release into the wild right now,” a source said.Buxa’s tourism suspension has been extended till Oct 9 to allow uninterrupted post-release monitoring and give the tigress time to stabilise.The extension aims to let the tigress explore the area, avoid possible conflict during the early phase of introduction, and prevent human interference with her movement.On Oct 2, gates of the enclosure in the 25th Mile area were opened in the presence of CM Suvendu Adhikari and Union forest minister Bhupender Yadav. The tigress remained deep inside the vegetation; foresters chose not to force her out.Ramesh Krishnamurthy of the Wildlife Institute of India, the project’s lead scientist, recalled the challenges of the Valmiki capture operation.“It was a complex terrain with limited road network, hardly any captive elephant for capture, and continued rain caused further delay. Nevertheless, the team applied multiple options and succeeded,” he said.
