Buxa Reserve regains its stripes with the release of a three-year-old tigress, Pg1

Key Highlights:

• A three-year-old tigress, T138, was released into the Buxa Tiger Reserve in West Bengal on Friday, October 2, 2026.
• This marks the beginning of a phased program to reintroduce tigers and establish a viable, self-sustaining population in the reserve.
• The tigress was translocated from Bihar’s Valmiki Tiger Reserve.
• Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav and West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari were present at the release.
• Three more tigers are planned for release in Buxa within the next two months, with a total of six over four years.
• Buxa Tiger Reserve, declared in 1983, had previously lost its stable resident tiger population due to habitat degradation and lack of prey.

Buxa Tiger Reserve.jpg

Detailed Insights:

• Buxa Tiger Reserve is located in the Alipurduar district of West Bengal, forming part of a larger ecological landscape connected to Bhutan and Assam.
• The decline in Buxa's tiger population was attributed to habitat degradation, fragmentation, changes in land use, and reduced prey availability.
• The reintroduction is part of the Tiger Augmentation and Recovery Project, a collaborative effort by the Government of West Bengal, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), and Wildlife Institute of India (WII) since 2018.
• Post-release, the tigress will undergo intensive monitoring using telemetry, camera trapping, and field-based methods to assess her adaptation and health.
• Efforts to strengthen the prey base in Buxa include releasing over 800 chital and restoring approximately 380 hectares of grassland.
• Valmiki Tiger Reserve, Bihar's only tiger reserve, is located in the West Champaran district and borders Nepal's Chitwan National Park.
• The reintroduction program aims to boost tourism in the region and restore the ecological balance of the reserve.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Tiger Reintroduction Program: The process of establishing a tiger population in an area where it was historically present but became locally extinct.
• National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA): A statutory body established in 2006 under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, responsible for tiger conservation in India.
• Project Tiger: A flagship wildlife conservation program launched in 1973 by the Government of India to protect the Bengal tiger and its habitats.
• Telemetry: A method using radio signals from transmitters attached to animals to track their movement and behavior for scientific study.
• Camera Trapping: The use of remote, motion-activated cameras to capture images or videos of wildlife for monitoring and research without human interference.