Context
A camera trap set up at Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) in Alipurduar district of West Bengal has captured a sight of Royal Bengal Tiger, that the region had not witnessed in more than two decades.
- The sighting of the 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.
About Royal Bengal Tiger
- The Royal Bengal Tiger belongs to a specific population of the Panthera Tigris subspecies, which is native to the Indian subcontinent.
- The species 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.
- 103 tigers in Bhutan.
- IUCN red list: Endangered
Tiger Conservation in India
- India is home to 53 tiger reserves spread across 18 states.
- The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has recently designated the combined areas of the Guru Ghasidas National Park and Tamor Pingla Wildlife Sanctuary as the 53rd Tiger Reserve in India.
- Largest Tiger Reserve– Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve (Andhra Pradesh, Telangana)
- Smallest Tiger Reserve– Bor Tiger Reserve (Maharashtra)
- The last tiger census of 2018 showed a rise in the tiger population. India achieved the target of doubling of tiger population 4 years ahead of schedule of the Petersburg Declaration on tiger Conservation.
- Project Tiger 1973: Project Tiger is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) launched in It provides havens for tigers in the country’s national parks.
- National Tiger Conservation Authority: It is a statutory body under the MoEFCC and was established in 2005 following the recommendations of the Tiger Task Force.
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.
- It was created in 1983 as the 15th tiger reserve in India.
- Its northern boundary runs along the international border with Bhutan.
- The fragile "Terai Ecosystem" constitutes a part of this reserve.
- Rajabhatkhawa Vulture Breeding Centre at Buxa Tiger Reserve for the breeding and conservation of endangered Indian vultures was established as the second such centre with the help of Bombay Natural History Society and British charity Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
- 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.
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