Kolkata, Oct 30 (PTI) West Bengal Forest Minister Manoj Oraon on Friday said his government is coordinating with Assam to bring back a tigress that moved from Buxa Tiger Reserve to the Raimona National Park in the neighbouring state.
The tigress, around three years old, was brought from Bihar’s Valmiki Tiger Reserve and released into Buxa on October 2 as part of efforts to establish a resident tiger population in the reserve.
The animal was released in Buxa in Alipurduar district in the presence of Union Forest Minister Bhupender Yadav and West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.
It crossed the Sankosh river on October 23 and entered Raimona National Park in Assam, apparently in search of a suitable territory, officials said.
Oraon said he would soon visit Assam and ensure the tigress’s safe return.
“The tigress was tracked through its radio collar today. Efforts are underway to bring it back. I will go there soon to coordinate the operation,” he told reporters.
The minister said the department was exploring all possible means to facilitate the animal’s safe return.
“We won’t do anything that will harm it physically. We are exploring all means to facilitate its smooth, safe return,” Oraon said when asked whether tranquiliser guns could be used.
Buxa had remained without a resident tiger for nearly a decade before one was spotted there in 2021. One or two more sightings were reported in subsequent years, including in January 2026.
The state Forest Department initiated efforts to re-establish a permanent tiger population in Buxa under the Tiger Augmentation and Recovery Project with support from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and Wildlife Institute of India (WII).
Buxa has historically been an important tiger landscape of north Bengal. Declared a Tiger Reserve in 1983, it forms part of a larger ecological landscape with connectivity to forests and protected areas of Bhutan and Assam, the government had said in a statement on October 2.
The recovery of tigers in Buxa is also significant at the landscape level. Its ecological linkages with north Bengal, Assam and Bhutan provide opportunities for movement and dispersal of wildlife across a larger connected landscape, it had said. PTI SUS SOM
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