A tiger has been photographed at Buxa Tiger Reserve, marking the first confirmed presence of the big cat in the reserve since December 2023.
Forest department officials said the animal was captured on camera by a trap camera installed in the West Rajabhatkhawa Range on January 15 at 8.19pm. The photograph was discovered the following morning.
“We saw the photograph the next morning. It is a mature adult tiger. The last such photograph captured by a trap camera was in December 2023,” Apurba Sen, field director of Buxa Tiger Reserve, told Metro on Saturday.
“It will probably venture around and try to establish its territory. Apparently, it is a male tiger,” he added.
The trap camera installation forms part of the All India Tiger Estimation exercise, which also includes carnivore sign surveys, transect line surveys, and herbivore estimation.
A transect line survey involves observers walking straight lines through tiger habitat, recording direct sightings and indirect signs such as pugmarks of tigers and their prey.
Forest department sources said tiger pugmarks were spotted at Jaldapara National Park earlier this month. “Then, further signs of tiger movement were spotted. There were marks of the tiger’s tail and other parts of the body. It could be the same tiger,” said a forest official.
“It is possible that the tiger had come from the adjoining forests of Bhutan and is moving within Buxa Tiger Reserve,” the official said. Buxa shares boundaries with Raimona National Park, part of Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam, and Phibsoo Wildlife Sanctuary in Bhutan.
The official said the male tiger may have come in search of a mate, as it is mating season. “In December 2023, too, the tiger had come searching for a female and stayed for some time,” he said. But there were no further sightings after a few days.
Buxa, once a tiger habitat, had not recorded confirmed sightings since the camera trap image on December 31, 2023, until the recent photograph on January 15.
A tiger relocation programme has been underway at Buxa Tiger Reserve for the last five years, supported by the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
“Lots of efforts are going on to recover the tiger population at Buxa. More than a decade ago, there were no confirmed reports of tigers. However, in the last three years, sightings have started again,” said Ramesh Krishnamurthy, senior scientist at the Wildlife Institute of India. Krishnamurthy is providing scientific support to the tiger reintroduction programme in Buxa and other sites.
“There are a few factors that need to be ensured. More villagers have to be relocated. Tigers stay when there is less disturbance. In terms of habitat, Buxa Tiger Reserve is one of the best. But we need to remove the disturbances,” he explained. “Also, we have to recover the prey population like deer.”
Krishnamurthy said improving conditions in the corridor connecting Buxa with Assam
and Bhutan is also essential for better tiger movement.
“The recent tiger sighting is indicative that the corridor exists and the animal can come
to Buxa. But it is not happening as frequently as expected. So the authorities have to
improve the conditions by removing bottlenecks like regulating human movement,” he said.
He pointed to the example of Sahyadri Tiger Reserve in Kathi, Maharashtra, where tiger sightings increased after habitat improvement. “After improving the habitat conditions, the forest department is now relocating female tigers after it was established that three males are visiting the forest and spending time,” he said. “A similar situation can be created in Buxa.”
The presence of villages within the core zone of Buxa remains the main hurdle in sustaining a tiger population. Efforts to relocate families have been ongoing for years but remain incomplete.
State forest department officials said two forest villages in core areas were relocated in 2023-24. However, 12 more villages remain.
“Negotiations are going on. We cannot put pressure on them,” said Sen of Buxa Tiger Reserve.
“We are also studying the habitat and increasing grassland. Around 1,000 chital deer have been introduced. Also, an enclosure covering two hectares has been installed where some deer will be relocated and after breeding, they will be set free as part of prey augmentation,” he added.