Has Buxa tiger come from Bhutan? No match with national database raises origin query
Times of India | 30 January 2026
Kolkata: The Bengal tiger clicked in Buxa recently is a new individual photographed for the first time in the north-east tiger landscape. It will reportedly be counted in Buxa under the All-India Tiger Estimation (AITE) exercise and may also get an ID with the N Bengal park. Experts and foresters are also not ruling out the chance of its arrival from Bhutan.
Officials said the photo does not match any existing record in NRCTPT (National Repository of Camera Trap Photographs of Tigers). "Wildlife Institute of India compared this tiger individual with North East Hills & Brahmaputra Flood Plains NRCTPT database and no match was found," said chief wildlife warden Sandip Sundriyal.
Foresters and experts believe either the individual was never photographed before in Assam's Manas or it has come from Bhutan's Royal Manas landscape that's connected to Buxa through Phibsoo sanctuary. A big cat clicked in Buxa earlier in 2023 was found to be present in the database of Assam's Manas.
"This Buxa tiger photograph has been archived in WII database for future reference," added Sundriyal.
"For a tiger traversing this corridor, it will be easier to enter Buxa through Butan as the corridor from Assam's Manas is fragmented between Panbari and Raimona and also after Raimona. But, the route through Bhutan's Phibsoo will offer it a much better green cover and help it enter Buxa from its northern boundary. For me, tigers in these corridors should be treated as a separate block and should not be counted as Manas tigers, Buxa tigers or Bhutan tigers," said conservationist Biswapriya Rahut.
Asked if they will get in touch with their counterparts in Bhutan to find out if the tiger was clicked earlier there, a senior National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) official said what matters to them now is that the big cat has been clicked for the first time here. "The NE Hills forests are moist deciduous, hence camera-trapping is a challenge. So, it's highly possible that the tiger was not earlier clicked in Assam's Manas. Habitat augmentation efforts are ongoing in Buxa and some villages need to be relocated. Once these are achieved, we believe Buxa will also have its resident tiger population," he added.
As per AITE report, 2022, tigers were photo-captured for the first time in Buxa, Neora Valley and Mahananda in N Bengal. It said the Manas-Buxa-Neora-Mahananda block had an estimated tiger population of 61, showing a steady increase since the previous cycle. "This block is connected to the tiger population of Bhutan through shared border. In Bhutan, the estimated tiger population was 91, with 60 adult females, and density estimates of 2-3 tigers per 100 sq km in Royal Manas. If the corridor maintains connectivity, tiger population in Manas can expand towards the west, reaching Buxa via Raimona and Ripu-Chirang Elephant Reserve. The western extension forms a sub-block, Buxa-Jaldapara-Neora-Mahananda, which connects to the larger Manas block through Bhutan corridors," the report added.