Tigress Zeenat gives birth to four cubs in Similipal Tiger Reserve

Tigress Zeenat, translocated from Maharashtra in 2024, has given birth to four cubs in Odisha?s Similipal Tiger Reserve, Forest Minister Ganesh Ram Singhkhuntia said on Tuesday.

The tigress delivered the cubs around 20 days ago, and both the mother and cubs are healthy, he said.

?The cubs are under GPS-based monitoring and are safe. Zeenat is also healthy. This is very encouraging news for the reserve,? he added.

An image captured by a trap camera showed Zeenat carrying one of her cubs in her



mouth.

Zeenat, along with another tigress, Jamuna, was brought to Similipal from Maharashtra?s Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in November 2024 as part of efforts to strengthen the reserve?s tiger gene pool. She was three years old at the time.

The tigress had earlier drawn national attention after embarking on a nearly 300-km journey across Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal shortly after her relocation. She left Similipal on December 7, 2024, and moved through several forest corridors before being captured in West Bengal following a 21-day tracking operation.