Why Forest Officials Chased This Tigress for Weeks—and Why They're Celebrating Her Today

On International Tiger Day, The Better India revisits the remarkable story of Zeenat, a young tigress whose disappearance from Odisha's Similipal Tiger Reserve triggered one of India's longest wildlife tracking operations. After travelling nearly 300 kilometres across Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal, she was finally tranquillised, brought back to Similipal and released once again. Many feared the ambitious conservation experiment had failed.A year and a half later, Zeenat has rewritten that narrative.

The same tigress who once dominated headlines as a "runaway" is now raising four healthy cubs in Similipal, marking the first major success of Odisha's tiger supplementation programme aimed at strengthening the reserve's shrinking genetic diversity.

In late December 2024, wildlife headlines across eastern India followed a single tigress as she slipped through forests, crossed state borders, outwitted tracking teams and repeatedly disappeared into rugged hills before anyone could tranquillise her.

For nearly three weeks, Zeenat — a young tigress translocated from Maharashtra's Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve to Odisha's Similipal Tiger Reserve — became the country's most closely watched big cat.

She was called elusive. Restless. Even a "runaway".

Today, nearly a year and a half later, Zeenat walks through Similipal with four growing cubs.

A recent camera trap image released by Odisha's Forest Department tells a very different story from the one that dominated headlines. It shows Zeenat gently carrying one of her cubs in her jaws through the forest.

The tigress who once seemed impossible to settle has done exactly what conservationists hoped she eventually would — establish a territory, find a mate and raise the next generation.

For Similipal, her litter marks the first major success of Odisha's tiger supplementation programme, launched to improve the reserve's shrinking genetic diversity. With the birth of her four cubs, the number of tiger cubs in the reserve has increased from 12 to 16.

Looking back, Zeenat's journey no longer looks like a failed translocation. Instead, it has become a story of patience, instinct and conservation.

When The Better India spoke to Dr Ravikant S Khobragade, the senior wildlife veterinarian at Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve who first radio-collared Zeenat before her move to Odisha, he offered a perspective that puts her journey into context.

"She was never a trouble-tiger," he says. "She was simply looking for space."

A reserve searching for new blood

Similipal has long fascinated wildlife biologists.

It is one of the few places in the world where pseudo-melanistic tigers — popularly known as black tigers — occur in unusually high numbers.

Their striking appearance is caused by a rare recessive genetic mutation that has become more common because the population has remained isolated for generations.

By 2024, Similipal was home to 27 tigers, including 13 pseudo-melanistic animals.

While the black-coated tigers captured public imagination, scientists saw a growing concern. A small, closely related population can reduce genetic diversity over time, making the long-term health of the species more vulnerable.

To address this, the Odisha government launched a tiger supplementation programme in 2024.

The plan is to introduce six genetically unrelated tigers — five females and one male — over five years from central Indian reserves to strengthen Similipal's gene pool.

Meanwhile, Zeenat had other plans

The first tiger to arrive was Jamuna, who reached Similipal on 9 November 2024.

Zeenat followed four days later. She was barely three years old.

Like every translocated tiger, she first spent time inside a soft-release enclosure. The period allowed her to adjust to unfamiliar terrain, prey species and neighbouring tigers before being released into the wild.

Then everything changed.

Soon after entering the forest, Zeenat began moving beyond the reserve.

On 7 December 2024, she started travelling north-west, leaving Similipal behind. Her journey would eventually stretch nearly 300 kilometres across Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

Thanks to her radio collar, forest officials were able to monitor her movements almost in real time.

What followed became one of the most demanding wildlife tracking operations in recent years.

Zeenat crossed the Subarnarekha River into Jharkhand, moved through the forests of Chaibasa and briefly settled in the Chakulia range.

Despite travelling through landscapes where people and wildlife often overlap, she largely avoided villages. She hunted wild prey, rested inside forest patches and continued moving through connected habitats.

As she travelled west, forest departments across Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal coordinated round-the-clock efforts to track her movements.

For days, the young tigress stayed one step ahead.

She kept everyone guessing

By the time Zeenat entered the forested hills of Jhargram in West Bengal around 20 December 2024, tracking her had become far more difficult.

Belpahari and Kankrajhore are very different from the flatter forests where capture teams usually operate. Rocky slopes, thick vegetation and poor visibility made every attempt to approach her a challenge.

Experienced teams, including specialists from the Sundarbans, joined the operation. They understood tiger behaviour.

Zeenat, however, seemed to understand theirs just as well.

Every attempt to tranquillise her failed. Sometimes the terrain offered no clear shot. At other times, she simply stayed one step ahead of the teams following signals from her radio collar.

The longer the chase continued, the more cautious she became.

Eventually, after moving through Jhargram, Purulia and into Bankura, the operation narrowed around Gopalpur village.

On 29 December 2024, after several days of attempts, forest officials finally tranquillised her.

A Roaring Success Story: Tadoba's Zeenat Thrives in Similipal!
Translocated from Tadoba in 2024, tigress Zeenat has now given birth to four healthy cubs in Similipal Tiger Reserve, Odisha. pic.twitter.com/AvIxU6spkt

— Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (@mytadoba) June 2, 2026

She was taken to Kolkata's Alipore Zoo for veterinary observation before being flown back to Odisha.

On 1 January 2025, Zeenat returned to Similipal, where she spent time inside another soft-release enclosure at Jamuna Meadow before being released into the forest once again.

The operation was over.

But Zeenat's real story was only beginning.

'She wasn't wandering without reason'

For Dr Ravikant S Khobragade, watching the nationwide attention unfold felt deeply personal.

Now Senior Wildlife Veterinarian and Head of the Rapid Rescue Team at Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve, he had known Zeenat long before she became a national headline. He had radio-collared her in Tadoba and even given her the nickname that stayed.

"It wasn't an official name," he laughs.

"The place where we first captured her was called Zinkanat. I combined that with actress Zeenat Aman, and the name simply stayed."

She was born in the Andhari Beat of the Mohurli Range, deep inside the core area of Maharashtra's Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR).

What stayed with him even more was how quickly people labelled her.

Many believed she was refusing to settle. He saw something else entirely — a young tigress behaving exactly as wild female tigers often do.

A tiger released into a new landscape doesn't immediately claim a territory. It first needs to understand its surroundings — where prey is available, where water lies, whether other tigers already occupy the area, and which spaces are safe enough to raise cubs.

"People thought she was running away," he says. "But she was simply exploring a completely unfamiliar landscape."

Looking back now, he says her journey makes perfect sense.

A tigress doesn't choose a place to raise cubs casually. Finding a secure territory is one of the most important decisions she makes.

Why she was so difficult to catch

One question dominated headlines during Zeenat's journey: Why was it taking so long to tranquillise her?

Dr Khobragade believes the answer lies in how intelligent wild tigers are.

"A tiger doesn't understand tranquilisers," he explains. "It understands experience."

If darting attempts fail repeatedly, the animal starts associating approaching vehicles and people with danger. It becomes more alert and changes its behaviour.

"They learn," he says simply.

That, he believes, is exactly what happened during the operation.

Even in Tadoba, Zeenat had stood out for her sharp awareness.

"She wasn't aggressive," he says. "She was alert. There's a difference."

That awareness helped her travel nearly 300 kilometres through three states while avoiding conflict with people.

Despite crossing villages, roads and human-dominated landscapes, Zeenat largely stayed within forest patches, hunted wild prey and used existing forest corridors throughout her journey.

Far from becoming a conflict animal, she showed just how adaptable wild tigers can be when connected habitats still exist.

Home, at last

Back in Similipal, forest staff waited patiently.

Months later, encouraging signs began to emerge.

After being released into the reserve again in April, Zeenat was repeatedly spotted with resident male tiger T-12. Conservationists hoped the pair would eventually breed.

In May this year, that hope became reality.

Zeenat gave birth to four healthy cubs.

A camera trap later captured one of the year's most heartwarming wildlife images: Zeenat gently carrying one of her cubs in her jaws through the forest.

For the tigress once described as a "runaway", it was a remarkable full circle.

She had done exactly what conservationists hoped she would — found a home, established a territory and begun raising the next generation.

What Zeenat means for Similipal

Her cubs represent much more than a breeding success.

For years, scientists had warned that Similipal's isolated tiger population needed greater genetic diversity to remain healthy in the long run. Bringing in unrelated tigers was meant to gradually strengthen future generations.

Zeenat's litter is the first visible sign that the programme is working.

Their birth has increased the number of tiger cubs in Similipal from 12 to 16, giving conservationists fresh confidence in a project that initially raised as many questions as hopes.

Zeenat with her cubs in #Similipal. At less than two months old the cubs started moving with mother.@PCCFWL_Odisha @ForestDeptt pic.twitter.com/Ryvoz5xOPT

— Similipal Tiger Reserve, Odisha (@Similipal_South) June 27, 2026

The work, however, is far from over.

Odisha's Wildlife Wing is now preparing the second phase of the supplementation programme. As originally planned, six tigers — five females and one male — will be introduced over five years, with Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve continuing to serve as an important source population.

A different way to remember Zeenat

International Tiger Day often focuses on rising tiger numbers.

But Zeenat's journey reminds us that conservation is rarely straightforward.

It involves difficult decisions, scientific planning, veterinary expertise, coordination between states and, above all, patience. Wild animals do not follow human timelines, and sometimes the greatest success comes from allowing them the freedom to follow their instincts.

When The Better India asks Dr Khobragade how he feels today, months after watching Zeenat become a mother, he pauses for a moment.

He remembers the young tigress from Tadoba more than the famous one who dominated headlines.

"She was very close to my heart," he says. "She was sweet, but she noticed everything around her."

Perhaps that is the best way to remember Zeenat.

Not as the tigress who kept three state forest departments on their toes, but as a wild animal doing exactly what nature intended.

Today, somewhere in the forests of Similipal, the once-restless tigress walks quietly beneath the trees, her cubs close behind. Their tiny paw prints are more than signs of a growing family — they are proof that when science, patience and conservation come together, even the longest journey can lead to new beginnings.

Source: The Better India