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13 December 2021.
Introduction:
A camera trap set up at Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) in Alipurduar district of West Bengal have captured a sight of Royal Bengal Tiger, that the region has not witnessed in more than two decades.
Highlights
After confirming the Tiger sighting, field director of the Buxa Reserve, Buddharaj Shewa, informed that 70 more trap cameras have been planned to set up, in addition to 150 already in place.
Significance of Tiger sighting
The sighting of Bengal Tiger is significant because no tiger had been photographed for more than 23 years, in the Buxa Reserve. The last known tiger was photographed in 1998.
Buxa Tiger Reserve:
- Buxa Tiger Reserve is located in northern West Bengal.
- It covers an area of 760 km2. It ranges from 60 m in Gangetic Plains to 1,750 m bordering Himalayas in the north.
- The reserve is home to around 284 bird species.
- It is also home to mammals like Asian elephant, gaur, clouded leopard, Sambar deer and Indian leopard.
When was this reserve established?
- Buxa Tiger Reserve was established, as the 15th tiger reserve of India, in 1983.
Where is it located?
- The Buxa Tiger Reserve is located in Alipurduar district of West Bengal.
- Its northern boundary runs parallel to international border with Bhutan.
- Along the northern side of reserve, the Sinchula hill range is located while it shares the eastern boundary with Assam state.
- National Highway No.31 C roughly runs across the southern boundary of the reserve.
The Royal Bengal Tiger
- The Royal Bengal Tiger belongs to specific population of the Panthera tigris tigris subspecies, which is native to the Indian subcontinent.
- The tiger is threatened by poaching and fragmentation of habitat.
- India’s tiger population was 2,603–3,346 individuals in 2018. 300–500 tigers are found in Bangladesh, 220–274 in Nepal while 103 tigers in Bhutan. In the red list of IUCN, it has been list into endangered category.