The Reintroduction of Tigers in Buxa Tiger Reserve

Gist On October 2 , a three-year-old tigress was released into West Bengal's Buxa Tiger Reserve , marking the beginning of a phased reintroduction programme designed to establish a self-sustaining tiger population. The reserve had previously lost its resident tigers due to severe habitat degradation and immense human pressure. For a civil services aspirant, this development highlights the complexities of species translocation, the critical importance of ecological matching between source and destination habitats, and the ongoing challenge of mitigating anthropogenic threats in critical wildlife corridors. Background Tiger 'reintroduction' involves re-establishing a population in a historical range where the species has gone locally extinct, a scientific endeavour pioneered globally by India. The National Tiger Conservation Authority NTCA spearheads these initiatives in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India WII and respective state governments, guided by a strict scientific protocol. The current initiative stems from a 2018 assessment by the NTCA, which found a complete absence of tigers in the Buxa , Dampa , and Palamu tiger reserves. Historically, Buxa lost its stable resident tiger population because of severe habitat fragmentation, drastic…