Buxa wants tigers back, but fear remains in forest fringes: Survey
Times of India | 7 September 2026
Kolkata: They want tigers back in Buxa — but they do not want to live in fear of them.
A perception survey among forest-fringe communities of Buxa Tiger Reserve has found broad support for the proposed tiger reintroduction, but also flagged a significant challenge: safety concerns. Fear of moving through the forest remains widespread even as communities show strong willingness to participate in awareness, training and conflict-mitigation measures.
The survey by the SNAP Foundation, conducted with the support of Buxa Tiger Reserve and the Bengal forest department, covered 56 of the reserve’s 64 joint forest management committees, representing an estimated 280 respondents. Eight JFMCs could not be reached due to time constraints.
The clearest sign of apprehension: all respondent JFMCs said they would feel unsafe moving through forest areas. Yet fear has not hardened into opposition. Only 14.3% said they would continue to oppose reintroduction even if adequate safety measures were in place.
Overall acceptance stood at 88.7%, with support for reintroduction in principle at 87.5% — rising to 92.9% when linked to safety guarantees, according to ecologist Amirul Hassan of SNAP Foundation.
Support for awareness programmes and volunteer training reached 100% in Buxa West, and there was unanimous agreement on the importance of future generations being able to see tigers in Buxa.
“Communities also expect locals to directly benefit from conservation-linked tourism,” said Koustav Choudhury, executive director of SNAP Foundation.
The study also highlights a sharp west-east divide over habitat suitability. While 70% of respondents in the western division considered Buxa a suitable tiger habitat, only 23.1% in the east did — a gap of nearly 47 percentage points.
The survey notes this could reflect either an information gap or genuine perceptions about forest conditions and the historical absence of tigers in the eastern division.
Village JFMCs backing the project include those in Tashigaon, Phaskawa, Jainti, Hatipota, Nimati, Poro, Newland and Sankosh, while those opposed include Chunabhati, Tobgaon, Santalabari, East Damanpur and Dhawla. Mixed responses came from Damanpur, Cheko, Panbari and Gadadhar, among others.
“Buxa’s biggest challenge may not be persuading communities to accept the tiger, but convincing them that they can safely live alongside it,” said a local conservationist.