In a major breakthrough for tiger conservation, a picture of a tiger was captured in a camera trap in West Bengal’s Buxa Tiger Reserve on Saturday. The last time an undisputed claim of tiger presence was made in the reserve located in North Bengal was in 1998.
VK Yadav, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden, West Bengal said, “A male tiger was caught on camera in the Buxa Tiger Reserve today.” Hindu, The picture was taken on Saturday at 12.02 pm.
The development assumes significance as there was a plan by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to reintroduce tigers from a similar landscape to Kaziranga in Assam to the reserve. A similar transfer from Madhya Pradesh to Odisha’s Satkosia a few years ago did not give the desired results.
Mr. Yadav said that this is the natural movement of the tiger due to the increase in the number of poachers. He said that 300 deer have been released in the forest in the last two years.
The development has delighted wildlife experts and nature enthusiasts as questions were raised about the presence of big cats in the reserve. There are about 98 tigers in the Sundarbans of South Bengal which is the only mangrove forest in the world which is home to tigers.
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