A tigress returns to Buxa after decades

For the first time, a tigress has been reintroduced into Buxa Tiger Reserve in West Bengal, marking the beginning of an ambitious effort to bring back a species that has been functionally absent from the reserve for decades.

Spread across nearly 760 sq km, Buxa was declared a tiger reserve in 1983. Yet, despite its vast and diverse landscape, it has had no confirmed resident tiger population for years. The reserve stretches from about 200 feet above sea level in the Gangetic plains to nearly 5,740 feet towards the Himalayan foothills, creating a unique combination of plains, forests and mountainous terrain.
Tigers, however, have not been entirely strangers to Buxa. Camera traps have occasionally recorded male tigers moving through the landscape, believed to have entered from neighbouring Assam or Bhutan. The challenge has been to establish a stable resident population.
That effort took a significant step forward at the beginning of Wildlife Week 2026, when a three-year-old Bengal tigress, identified as T138, was released into the core area of Buxa.

Weighing around 150 kg, T138 was brought from Valmiki Tiger Reserve in Bihar, which has emerged as an important tiger conservation success story. Its tiger population has risen from just eight animals in 2010 to 54, according to last tiger census.

Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav, along with West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and senior forest officials, marked the release.

Yadav said in a post on X that, inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's emphasis on landscape conservation and species protection, the reintroduction fulfilled a significant promise to bring tigers back to Buxa.

The chief minister described the occasion as a “historic and momentous day” for wildlife conservation in the state.
For Dr Ramesh Krishnamurthy, a senior scientist at the Wildlife Institute of India, the release is not simply about bringing an animal into a forest. It is part of a much longer conservation programme.

Krishnamurthy, 53, has spent 31 years with the Wildlife Institute of India and 17 years working on tiger reintroduction programmes. He said preparations for Buxa's tiger recovery began in 2017, involving habitat improvement, strengthening protection, building the capacity of field staff and engaging local communities.

“T138 was brought in a case and released into a two-hectare enclosure, where a water body has been created,” he said. “Since her release, she has been showing natural behaviour.”

The tigress was captured on September 29. After few hours of road travel, she was airlifted and reached Buxa on the morning of September 30.

Airlifting tigers is not unprecedented in the country . Similar operations have been undertaken during tiger reintroduction programmes in places such as Sariska and Panna.

Why Valmiki?

The choice of the source population is one of the most important scientific decisions in a tiger reintroduction programme.

According to Krishnamurthy, the selection considers factors such as geographical and environmental similarity, terrain and prey availability.

Valmiki Tiger Reserve, with its combination of mountainous terrain and plains and a prey base comparable in several respects to Buxa, was therefore considered suitable.

“The choice of the animal is key. There is a scientific strategy behind this selection,” Krishnamurthy explained.

The tigress has been fitted with a satellite collar with a VHF link. Her movements will be tracked through satellite data as well as by dedicated teams working on the ground.

Two more tigers have already been identified and, according to Krishnamurthy, will be brought to Buxa as part of the pre-planned reintroduction strategy.

More than bringing back a tiger, for Krishnamurthy, the significance of the project goes beyond the recovery of a single species.

“The return of tigers to a place where they once thrived and later became functionally extinct is not only about individual species conservation, but also about restoration of overall ecosystem integrity,” he said.

The Buxa programme involves several organisations, including the West Bengal Forest Department, Buxa Tiger Reserve, North Bengal Wildlife Division, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, National Tiger Conservation Authority, Wildlife Institute of India, Global Tiger Forum and International Big Cat Alliance, along with several NGOs.

Krishnamurthy's role has been to help develop the action plan with stakeholders, provide technical support and lead researchers involved in monitoring and management.

But he is clear that tiger reintroduction is a long process.
Having worked on tiger recovery programmes in Panna, Sanjay-Dubri, Satkosia and Sahyadri, he describes reintroduction as one of the more challenging conservation exercises.

“Success will take a long time, while negative outcomes catch the mind quickly,” he said.

His guiding principle is simple: “Conservation is a process, not a destination.”

He says his experience in Panna taught him that successful conservation is not only about wildlife, but also about people, management and the larger socioeconomic landscape around protected areas.

Watching T138's every move

The first few weeks and months will be crucial.

The tigress will be monitored continuously through her satellite and VHF collar, camera traps and field teams. Sumit Sabharwal, founder and CEO of A&S Creations and Vanrakshak, said his organisation is supporting the monitoring effort with equipment including radio collars, binoculars, drones and camera traps.

Dr Krishnamurthy will remain in Buxa for a few more days to oversee the initial phase. But members of his team and field staff will continue monitoring T138.
For Buxa, the arrival of a single tigress is only the beginning. The larger ambition is to restore a viable tiger population—and, with it, strengthen an entire forest ecosystem.If the coordinated efforts continues and if the villages in the core areas are relocated, Buxa Tiger Reserve will recover faster as it has natural advantage and it can become one of the best in the country, says Dr Krishnamurthy.

The tigress has arrived. The real conservation story begins now.