After terrorising villagers in Jharkhand and West Bengal, tigress Zeenat on Tuesday night is scheduled to return to the Similipal Reserve Forest in Odisha from where she escaped about three weeks back, an official said.

The process of getting her back from West Bengal has started and she will reach Similipal in the night, Odisha's Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) Prem Kumar Jha told PTI.

"She will be released in a natural enclosure in the core area of the Similipal Tiger Reserve where another tigress, Jamuna, was earlier kept," he said.

"After watching her activities, the authorities will take a decision to release her into the wild," he added.

Zeenat was brought to Similipal from Maharashtra's Tadoba in November to strengthen the gene pool of the tiger population in the reserve.

She crossed over to Jharkhand from Similipal in the early hours of December 8, and from there to West Bengal, covering more than 200 km in about three weeks in search of new territory after terrorising villagers and eluding forest guards on its way.

Zeenat was caught on December 29 in Bankura district of West Bengal after a tranquiliser dart hit her successfully after days of chase and failed attempts.

She was then taken to the Alipore Zoo in Kolkata for blood and stool sample collection. A medical team was formed to monitor her health.

Meanwhile, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) wrote to the West Bengal government about taking Zeenat to the Alipur Zoo instead of immediately shifting her to Similipal from Bankura.

In a letter to the chief wildlife warden of West Bengal, the NTCA said, "It is also requested to apprise this Authority for the reason why the said tigress was shifted to Alipur Zoo, instead of translocating it back to the state of Odisha as per the SOP." The NTCA said the tigress was brought to Similipal under a special initiative to improve the genetic constitution of the tigers there.

A team of forest officials led by Similipal Tiger Reserve's Field Director Prakash Chand Gogineni were in West Bengal to facilitate the animal's return.

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