Chennai, May 28 (IANS): The Tamil Nadu forest department is set to build a 4-hectare natural enclosure for rewilding a two-year-old orphaned tiger. The estimated cost of the natural habitat is around Rs 3.5 crore, sources in the Tamil Nadu forest department told IANS.

The natural habitat is coming up in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) for the orphaned tiger, which was rescued from a tea estate in Valparai.

The tiger is presently housed at a 10,000 sq ft enclosure in the Mandhirimattam area of the Manambolly forest range under the Anamalai Tiger Reserve.

Senior officials in the forest department told IANS that the tiger currently weighs 140 kg and is in perfect shape. The natural habitat is being made for the big cat to ready it for hunting in the wild and then gradually relocate it in the deep forests.

The officials told IANS that the tiger is now displaying age-related attributes of a wild tiger like crouching, claw scratching, and territory marking.

Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, Forests and Climate Change Department, told IANS that the forest department is taking inputs from wildlife biologists and scientists at the Wild Life Institute of India, and according to the procedures laid down by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), it is bringing up the orphaned tiger.

The forest officials also told IANS that senior wild life biologist from the Wild Life Institute of India, K. Ramesh, will be reaching the Anamalai Tiger Reserve soon. It is to be noted that Ramesh is a noted wildlife biologist who had overseen the rewilding operations of tiger cubs in Madhya Pradesh.

Presently, the tiger is fed 6-8 kg meat six days a week. The tiger had undergone dental surgery earlier. It is being provided live chicken, rabbit and wild boar to help it in its hunting prowess and prepare it for the rewilding process.