National Tiger Conservation Authority held a meeting on Wednesday in Sariska regarding release of Ustaad T-24 from the confines of biological park to the widespread forest. It was mutually decided that the mighty T-24 needs to be brought on a normal diet and its adaptability be increased so that it can survive in the forest after the soft release.

To define soft release, it is a means of gradually accustoming wild animals to a new environment before releasing them into it.

After the first meet on 23^rd and 24^th Aug in 2016 in Aranya Kutir of Udaipur, this was second meet of the committee in Sariska. NTCA IG Dr. H.S.Negi, Dr. Parag Nigam from Indian Wildlife Institute Dehradun, State Wildlife Committee member Rajyapal Singh, Director of Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve Regional Director Y.K. Sahu and Udaipur Wildlife DFO T.Mohan were present for the meeting.

Absence of a doctor can be troublesome

As per information, Dr, Himanshu Vyas of the biological park is on leave. In his absence, getting T-24 on a normal diet can be problematic for the other officers of the forest reserve. The medical history of the tiger states that it has suffered from Megacolon(constipation trouble) twice and had to undergo surgery as well. So this explains why the absence of a doctor can cause trouble in getting T-24 back on normal diet.

IVRI report was also discussed

Blood samples of T-24 were sent to IVRI Bareilly. There was a discussion on this as well in the meeting. As per the report, T-24 is healthy and normal on the basis of which it can be given normal diet. Till now, the diet provided is boneless. To make it survive after the soft release, it is imperative that normal diet be introduced so that survival becomes easy for the tiger. NTCA committee has given a month’s period to get Ustaad  back to its normal diet.