બક્સામાં વાઘણ પાછી: વાઘના પુનઃપ્રસારનો પ્રથમ તબક્કો શરૂ થયો

• A tigress was released in Buxa Tiger Reserve, West Bengal, marking the start of India's Wildlife Week 2026
• The animal, tagged T138, was translocated from Valmiki Tiger Reserve in Bihar
• Buxa was declared a Tiger Reserve in 1983 but lost its stable resident tiger population
• Camera traps recorded tigers in 2021, 2023 and 2026
• 64 Eco-Development Committees and Joint Forest Management Committees are part of the programme

A tigress was released in Buxa Tiger Reserve in West Bengal today, in the presence of Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav and West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. The release starts a phased Tiger Reintroduction Programme aimed at building a self-sustaining tiger population in the reserve.

Yadav said on social media that the promise to bring tigers back to Buxa had been fulfilled. He thanked Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary and Adhikari for supporting the reintroduction.

Why Buxa matters

Buxa has long been an important tiger landscape in North Bengal. It was declared a Tiger Reserve in 1983 and is linked to forests and protected areas in Bhutan and Assam.

Habitat degradation, fragmentation, land-use change and a fall in prey left the reserve without a stable resident tiger population for a long period.

Eight years of recovery work

The Tiger Augmentation and Recovery Project, started by the West Bengal government, has run since 2018 with support from the National Tiger Conservation Authority and the Wildlife Institute of India. It focuses on habitat, prey, protection, monitoring and training.

More than 800 chital have been released to boost the prey base. About 380 hectares of grassland have been restored or converted over the past eight years. Scientific monitoring shows a positive trend in prey numbers.

Camera traps recorded tigers in 2021, 2023 and 2026. A tiger photographed in 2023 matched one from Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam, showing that tigers are moving naturally between neighbouring landscapes.

Monitoring and community role

The released tigress, tagged T138, was moved from Valmiki Tiger Reserve after checks on ecological, veterinary and management parameters. Officials will track its movement, health, adaptation and behaviour using telemetry, camera traps and field monitoring.

Further releases will depend on habitat and prey availability, protection readiness, population viability, monitoring results and expert advice.

The programme has involved 64 Eco-Development Committees and Joint Forest Management Committees. It focuses on community dialogue, livelihoods, reducing human-wildlife conflict and benefits linked to conservation. Officials say this engagement will continue as recovery progresses.