Roaring cheers for Buxa: Tiger caught on camera after nearly three decades

KOLKATA/JALPAIGURI: A tiger camera-trapped at the Buxa reserve after nearly three decades has sent foresters and wildlife conservationists into a tizzy. The photograph was clicked and released on Saturday.
With no recent sighting in the north Bengal park until now, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had taken up an augmentation project at Buxa, the preparatory work for which is on.
The news comes as a major boost for state wildlifers at a time the NTCA has reportedly refused to release protection funds for the reserve.
The all-India tiger estimation report in 2019 had said there were no tigers left at Buxa. Experts say the recent sighting once again proves the importance of relocating forest villages to ensure a proper tiger habitat.
State chief wildlife warden Debal Roy said: “We can safely say that this is the first record of a tiger at the park in at least two decades. This is great news when background work for tiger augmentation is on. We had earlier found indirect evidence (a few days ago, pugmarks were found on a riverbed), but now we have direct proof.”
While a senior forester said a tiger was last sighted at Buxa in 1998, local residents claim the last sighting was in 1993, when a big cat was seen near the Pana river.
State wildlife advisory board member Animesh Bose said the recent sighting had ended the tiger jinx for Buxa. “I had personally seen a tiger at the reserve in 1985. There had been indirect evidence like scat and incidents of cattle-lifting after that, but a tiger caught on camera is a huge relief for us,” he said.
While Biswajit Roychowdhury of Nature, Environment and Wildlife Society has termed it a feather in the cap of the state forest department, Joydip Kundu of city-based NGO SHER said the efforts of the field staff had finally borne fruit.
Buxa field director BR Sewa said the tiger might have come from Bhutan hills. “Deploying more and more camera traps to scan the forest has been a big move. Last year, we had placed 150 cameras; this year, 14 so far. We will install more soon,” he said.
According to Sewa, parks like Phibsoo Wildlife Sanctuary and Jigme Syngye Wangchuk National Park in Bhutan have indirect connectivity with Buxa. “Since tigers have a big home range, it is possible that this one has migrated from Bhutan hills forest. Also, under the tiger augmentation plan, we have introduced at least 500 spotted deer in the park in two years, thus improving the habitat,” he said.