Brought in to help repopulate Buxa, T-138 is now in Assam

Why in the News

West Bengal’s Buxa Tiger Reserve, without a stable tiger population for decades, was meant to begin a phased recovery with its first reintroduced tigress, but she has left the reserve. Tigress T-138, airlifted from Bihar’s Valmiki Tiger Reserve, has travelled 35 km into Assam’s Raimona National Park.

What is the Buxa reintroduction plan?

1. What it is: Reintroduction means releasing animals into a habitat that has lost them, so that a population can rebuild. Buxa covers about 760 sq km in Alipurduar district, historically an important tiger landscape in North Bengal.
2. Why tigers vanished: The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) cited habitat degradation, changes in land use and a decline in prey availability.
3. A national first: T-138, a three-year-old tigress, was the first tiger successfully airlifted between States in India for such an initiative.
4. The airlift: The tranquilised tigress was flown on a military aircraft to Hasimara Air Force Station. She was then taken to the Rajabhatkhawa forest area of Buxa.
5. The takeaway: Her release was meant to mark the start of a phased recovery, so her departure tests the plan at its very first step.

Where has T-138 gone, and how are authorities responding?

1. Route to Assam: After roaming parts of Buxa, she headed towards the Sankosh river and entered Raimona, in Assam’s Kokrajhar district near the Indo-Bhutan border.
2. Tracking: A West Bengal team is tracking the GPS-tagged tigress in Raimona, where an alert has been sounded.
3. Wait and watch: The West Bengal Forest Minister said the tigress is being left undisturbed to explore, and will be tranquilised and brought back if required.

Has a tiger strayed across States before?

1. Zeenat’s journey: In December 2024, tigress Zeenat travelled 300 km from Odisha’s Similipal to the forests of Bengal.
2. Joint capture: She was captured after 21 days on the move, in an operation run by the Odisha and West Bengal forest departments together.

Challenges

1. Wide roaming range: Tigers commonly cover 70 to 80 km while exploring an area, well beyond a single reserve’s edge.
2. Conflict with residents: The tigress reportedly killed a domestic pig, and residents near Raimona, which has its own tigers, want her tranquilised and relocated.
3. Unrestored home range: Habitat degradation and declining prey emptied Buxa, so reversing them decides whether it can hold released tigers.

Way Forward

1. Inter-State tracking protocol: West Bengal and Assam forest departments should run a joint tracking operation, as Odisha and West Bengal did for Zeenat.
2. Inform residents: Assam’s forest department should keep residents near Raimona informed of the tigress’s movements while she is tracked.
3. Habitat before releases: Restore Buxa’s habitat and prey base before the next tigers are released.

Conclusion

Buxa’s reintroduction has cleared its logistical first step but not yet its ecological one, a tiger that stays. Whether T-138 settles or is brought back, and whether Buxa can hold the next release, is what to watch.

Back2Basics: Buxa Tiger Reserve

1. Transboundary corridor: Buxa is part of an international wildlife corridor, contiguous with Phibsoo in Bhutan to the north and Manas in Assam to the east.
2. Human pressure: It is dotted with settlements and ringed by revenue villages and tea estates, and commercial traffic on the Bhutan to West Bengal road runs through it.
3. Empty by 2018: The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) found no tigers in Buxa by 2018.
4. Plan scale: The programme plans to relocate seven tigers to Buxa over two years.

Matching Previous Year Question

“[2017] The term ‘M-STrIPES’ is sometimes seen in the news in the context of (a) Captive breeding of Wild Fauna (b) Maintenance of Tiger Reserves (c) Indigenous Satellite Navigation System (d) Security of National Highways ANSWER: (b)”