Tigers to be introduced in Buxa Tiger Reserve in West Bengal on October 2
Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupendra Yadav, during his visit to Kolkata, had said that the twin-engine government was “exploring” reintroduction of tigers to “suitable” habitats in Bengal. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu
Tigers will be introduced to the Buxa Tiger Reserve in North Bengal on October 2, West Bengal Environment and Forest Minister Manoj Oraon said on Friday, July 24, 2025. “We are planning to introduce a tiger to Buxa Tiger Reserve on October 2,” the minister said at an event in Kolkata.
Buxa Tiger Reserve is located in the Dooars district of north Bengal, close to the country’s border with Bhutan. The region was identified as the country’s 15th Tiger Reserve in 1983. The reserve, which has an area of 760.87 km2, extends for 50 km from west to east and 35 km from north to south.
68 species of mammals, 41 species of reptiles, more than 246 species of birds, 4 species of Amphibians and 103 species of fish have been recorded in the tiger reserve. Earlier there was a good population of tigers in the tiger reserve, but the number of tigers has decreased in the last few years.
Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupendra Yadav, during his visit to Kolkata, had said that the twin-engine government was “exploring” reintroduction of tigers to “suitable” habitats in Bengal.
Referring to the successful reintroduction of tigers in the Sariska district of Rajasthan, where the population rose from zero to 56 in 2008, Mr Yadav said a similar initiative was planned for the “Royal Bengal tiger country”.
The other tiger habitat in West Bengal is the Sundarban, the only mangrove ecosystem in the world that is home to the Royal Bengal Tigers. There are around 100 tigers in the Sundarban and this number has remained stable over the last few years.
Senior officials of the West Bengal Forest Department said that bringing tigers from Sundarban to Buxa might not be a good idea. Tigers may be introduced to Buxa from similar landscapes of Assam and Bihar. The West Bengal government and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) are considering bringing a tiger from the Valmiki Tiger Reserve in Bihar.
NTCA’s protocol on tiger reintroduction refers to an attempt to establish a tiger population in an area that was once part of its historical range but had become extinct or extinct. Although there have been several examples of successful reintroduction of tigers, tiger reintroduction into the Satkosia Tiger Reserve in Odisha had posed several challenges.
It was published – 25 July 2026 06:00 IST
