Kolkata: If all goes well, north Bengal's Buxa Tiger Reserve will receive two tigers on Global Tiger Day, July 29. The big cats, likely two females, may be brought from Assam's Manas Tiger Reserve or Bihar's Valmiki Tiger Reserve, senior government officials in New Delhi confirmed on Friday.
Project Details
Soumitra Dasgupta, a member of the National Board for Wildlife, stated: "The project may start with two female tigers. They will either be brought from Valmiki Tiger Reserve in Bihar or Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam. They will be introduced in Buxa on July 29." Dasgupta, also a director of the International Big Cat Alliance, previously served as head of the forest force in Bengal.
Sanjay Kumar, member-secretary of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), said: "Tentatively, we have set a target of July 29 to release tigers in Buxa. Talks are ongoing to get the big cats from Bihar's Valmiki or any reserve from the north-east landscape such as Manas, Kaziranga, or Orang. Valmiki is a key ecological bridge linking the Gangetic Plains with the Himalayan Terai, and parts of it resemble the forest nature in Buxa."
Background
Union Forest Minister Bhupender Yadav announced on May 24 plans to reintroduce tigers in Buxa. Since Buxa lacks a stable big cat population, a tiger augmentation project was launched in 2016-17, focusing on habitat improvement, prey base enhancement, and relocation of forest villages. While Bhutia Basti and Gangutia villages have been relocated, the relocation of Jayanti village recently gained pace, with 97% of over 400 families showing interest in resettlement.
Since 2021, camera traps in Buxa have captured tiger images several times. However, a state forest department source said all details about the tiger introduction will only become clear after receiving the NTCA technical committee's report.
Landscape and Capacity
Manas and Buxa are in the same landscape — north-east hills and Brahmaputra floodplains — and are contiguous. Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR), according to 2023 reports, is nearing its carrying capacity. From just eight tigers in 2010, the number jumped to over 50 in 2023. "Valmiki had a low tiger count when an action plan was drawn up for it in 2016-17. Now it's close to 56. If it has crossed capacity, it will be good to transfer excess tigers to other reserve forests with low tiger populations. This is part of wildlife management," Kumar said.
Relocation Progress
On Jayanti relocation, a senior forester said of the 445 families, only 10-12 had issues relocating. "A family consists of a person, spouse, minor sons, and unmarried daughters. Once a son reaches the legal age of majority (18 years) before the relocation cut-off date, he may be recognized as a separate family unit," he explained.
Bengal's former chief wildlife warden, Pradeep Vyas, under whose tenure the tiger augmentation project got in-principle approval in 2016-17, had said there were plans to relocate two tigers to Buxa every three years until 2026, considering sink zones including forests of Bhutan, Assam, and north Bengal's Jaldapara. "This is a landscape as a whole, which tigers use to migrate in search of food, mates, and territory," he had said.
