Tigress released into Bengal’s Buxa Tiger Reserve : GS TIMES IAS-PCS

Why in News?

A tiger has been reintroduced into Buxa Tiger Reserve, West Bengal, from Bihar’s Valmiki Tiger Reserve.
The initiative aims to restore a tiger population in Buxa outside the Sundarbans.
Buxa has been identified by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) as a priority landscape for tiger recovery.

Key Points

The tigress was initially placed in a 2.3-hectare enclosure through a “soft release” process.
Soft release allows the animal to acclimatise before entering the wider reserve.
Three more tigers are planned to be introduced over the next two months.
Buxa was declared a Tiger Reserve in 1983.
It is ecologically connected with forests of Bhutan and Assam.
Over 800 chitals have been released to improve prey availability.
Around 380 hectares of grassland have been restored or converted since 2018.
Camera traps recorded tiger movement in 2021, 2023 and 2026, indicating the landscape’s potential for tiger recovery.

Tigress released into Bengal’s Buxa Tiger Reserve