Buxa's new tigress crosses into Assam; Bengal works to bring her back
The three-year-old tigress, released into Buxa Tiger Reserve on October 2, swam across the Sankosh into Assam's Raimona National Park a week ago.
West Bengal is working with Assam to bring back a tigress that left Buxa Tiger Reserve in Alipurduar district less than three weeks after she was released there.
The tigress, about three years old, was brought from Bihar's Valmiki Tiger Reserve and released into Buxa on October 2. Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav and Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari attended the release. On October 23 she crossed the Sankosh river and entered Raimona National Park in Assam, apparently in search of territory of her own, officials said.
State Forest Minister Manoj Oraon said on Friday that the animal had been tracked through her radio collar and that he would travel to Assam soon to coordinate the operation, news agency PTI reported. Asked whether she would be tranquilised, he said the department would do nothing that could harm her physically.
Why it matters
Buxa had no resident tiger for nearly a decade until one was spotted in 2021, with only a handful of sightings since, the latest in January 2026. The release is part of the state's Tiger Augmentation and Recovery Project, run with support from the National Tiger Conservation Authority and the Wildlife Institute of India, to rebuild a breeding population in the reserve.
The Sankosh, which she crossed to reach Assam, is the same river now under a flood alert after a glacial lake burst upstream in Bhutan.
Sources
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