Bengal's Buxa reserve to get 6 Royal Bengal tigers from Kaziranga

The Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) is all set to get its first tigers as the Assam government has agreed to provide six Royal Bengal tigers from the Kaziranga National Park. With the arrival of the six tigers from Kaziranga, BTR will be able to end its dubious distinction of not being able to show any direct evidence of a tiger population for the last 30 years. No tigers were found in Buxa in the 2018 Tiger Census.

"Three tigers from Kaziranga will initially be brought to Buxar. They will be kept under observation for a year by satellite radio collars. Rest of the three tigers will be brought after that," Forest Minister Rajib Banerjee told DH. He also said that all the procedures for bringing the tigers to BTR is complete and they will arrive soon.

"The National Tiger Conservation Authority has given an approval to bring six tigers to Buxa from Kaziranga," said Principal Chief Conservator of Forests-Wildlife and Chief Wildlife Warden Ravi Kant Sinha.

According to sources in the Forest Department, among the three tigers which will be initially released in BTR, one will be male and two others will be female. The tigers will be kept under surveillance for a year by satellite radio collars.

"Since there is a lot of similarity between the terrain at Buxa and Kaziranga we are hopeful that the tigers will be able to easily adapt to their new surroundings," said a senior Forest Department official, adding that the other three tigers will be eventually brought into BTR.

BTR, located in the Alipuirduar district of West Bengal, was given the status of a tiger reserve in 1983. The reserve spans across an area of about 117 km. Following the 2018 Tiger Census, the Forest Department appealed to the National Tiger Conservation Authority to provide six tigers from another state to BTR.

Forest Department sources revealed that in a bid to make BTR an ideal habitat for tigers several spotted and sambar deers have been released in the sanctuary. The move is aimed at providing a large number of preys for the tigers.