Bengal to release 14 tigers in Buxa national park: minister

The West Bengal forest department is set to get 14 tigers from Kaziranga in Assam to be released at Buxa National Park in North Bengal, state minister Jyotipriyo Mallick said.

The forest minister said that 10 female and four male tigers would be brought from Kaziranga forest as their habitat has similarities with the Buxa forest area.

"This will be a major step in increasing the tiger population of the state. The tigers would be brought very soon," he told PTI in an interview.

However, the state government needs to relocate a few families living inside Buxa forest for some years before bringing the big cats, and talks are on with those families who will be given land for free at nearby human habitations, Mallik said on the eve of International Tiger Day.

A top forest official said footage of tigers stated to be of North Bengal forests, including Buxa, have been found and there were reports of sighting of the big cats by some tourists. But there was no camera trap photo of the animal in those forests during the official census by the forest department so far, and therefore their presence is not officially confirmed.

According to the last tiger census conducted in 2020, the number of Royal Bengal Tigers at Sunderbans was estimated at 96, which was done by camera trapping method, which is more accurate than the previous pug mark method that was followed till 2010, he said.

"The number of Royal Bengal Tiger population, for which Sunderbans is famous, has been consistently rising in the mangrove forest. In 2019, the number of tigers was 89. In 2020 it went up to 96," the official said.

The number must have risen beyond 100 now, he said.

The official added that there is space for up to 120 tigers in the Indian side of the forest.

Speaking on the reason behind the rise in tiger population in the area, the minister said, "We have ensured there is enough prey base for them. Altogether 10,000 deer were reared in 10 places each across the state, and a sizeable part of that deer is released in Sunderbans. There are other small animals in the forest as well. We have to maintain the ecosystem in the area." Mallick said some of the tigers keep moving from the Indian part to the Bangladesh side and vice versa.

The department cannot put any barrier on the passageway of the animals that move through creeks and water bodies, but to monitor their movement, the department attaches radio collar on trapped tigers before releasing them, he said.

"Though the Indian side of the forest is much smaller in size than the Bangladeshi side, a higher concentration of tigers is in the Indian side," he said.

Mallick said there was no casualty of tigers in recent cyclones Bulbul (2019), Amphan (2020) and Yaas (2021).

"They (Tigers) get scared on the face of big calamities. They get wind of the disasters beforehand and retreat into safer and interior areas," he said.

The minister said to keep a better tab on the movement of tigers and ensure they are not harmed, his department has already installed 1200 cameras in the Sunderbans while 900 more cameras will be installed in future.

"In tiger reserves, we will fix special nets that they cannot tear," he said.

In addition to the existing nets, these nets will be around the core forest area to ensure the unhindered movement of tigers. He said there would be six openings along the special nets to enable the tigers to have water from adjacent water bodies.

Since 2010, nylon nets are used to separate the core forest area from nearby human habitations and prevent straying of animals, and that has largely succeeded in checking tigers entering localities like Kultali.

To prevent man-animal conflict and the possibility of local villagers falling prey to tigers while catching shrimps, crabs, fish and collecting honey in the core forest area, the department will undertake sustained campaigns in nearby villages, he said.

Mallick said the forest department would embark on a plantation spree of mangroves and sow special tall grass in the Sunderbans area on International Tiger Day and open a research centre as part of the initiative to protect the Sunderbans and save the tiger population.

"We will undertake the campaign to save and protect every species of wildlife, including tigers. We have already been able to convince people, but we will target for zero poachings and arm our forest squad with better equipment,” he said.

In this context, Mallick said that there had not been major incidents of poaching of animals and trafficking of body parts in Bengal forests.

"What we see as arrest of traffickers of animal parts in Bengal are mostly incidents outside the state. The gang members use the state as a transit route due to its strategic location sharing borders with many states," he said.