The Bengal tigress wounded in a hunter’s trap in the Sundarbans has been brought to Bangabandhu Safari Park in Gazipur and she will undergo surgery today.
A board of veterinary doctors, formed yesterday with Prof Mizanur Rahman as its head, will conduct the operation on her left forelimb where the trap’s twine had dug in creating a septic wound.
The Sundarbans native arrived at the safari park around 4:00pm yesterday. Previously mistaken for a male, the tigress also acquired a new name, Pashuri.
Pashuri was first noticed by a tourist on January 27 in Lawdope village of Chandpai range in the Sundarbans. The tourist snapped a picture of the tigress limping away
beside the Dangmari creek, and the photo was published in The Daily Star on January 31.
Since then the forest department had been trying to catch her. They fashioned a wooden cage 12 feet long and three and a half feet wide.
Using a goat as bait, the officials managed to cage her on Friday afternoon. She was brought to the park on a truck and kept in an iron cage.
Pashuri is now extremely weak and underweight, only 70kg, as the wounded leg had prevented her from hunting for days.
The strenuous journey from Khulna and the changes in her surroundings only served to worsen her mood. Yesterday, she tried to attack anyone attempting to come close to
her, especially those wearing colourful clothes.
Before Poshuri, another Bengal tigress, called Sundori, was captured from the Sundarbans and brought to the safari park.
Sundori has been residing in an enclosure of her own as other ten tigers at the safari park refused to accept her. She spends her days lurking out of sight, only
coming out for a stroll before daybreak and after sundown.
Tapan Kumar Dey, forest conservator at wildlife and nature conservation circle under Bangladesh Forest Department, said the ten others were born and bred in captivity.
Since Pashuri was born in the wild, it is likely that she will need her own private space like Sundori. Both are females and they will possibly not fight over
territory.
“We will try to breed from them in the future if it is possible,” said Tapan.
-With The Daily Star input
