Tiger reintroduction in Buxa: A new chapter for conservation in West Bengal

India released a tigress into Buxa Tiger Reserve on October 2, 2026, beginning a phased program to establish a viable, self-sustaining tiger population in the West Bengal reserve. The three-year-old tigress, T138, was translocated from Bihar's Valmiki Tiger Reserve. The tigress will initially be kept in a 2.3-hectare enclosure to acclimatize before release, with intensive post-release monitoring via telemetry and camera traps. Buxa, declared a tiger reserve in 1983, has seen a prolonged absence of resident tigers due to habitat degradation, fragmentation, and prey decline. The reintroduction follows a national program started in 2008, with successes at Sariska and Panna but challenges at Satkosia due to human-tiger conflict. Buxa faces obstacles including settlements, railway lines, and heavy commercial traffic near the Bhutan border.