Lessons from translocating a tiger for population recovery [Commentary]

- A three-year-old tigress has been translocated from Bihar’s Valmiki Tiger Reserve to Buxa Tiger Reserve in West Bengal. - Valmiki was once considered a punishment posting for forest staff and had only a handful of tigers. It can now spare animals for other reserves. - Prey recovery, community support, and safe connectivity will determine whether the translocated tigers can establish a breeding population in their new home. - The views in this commentary are that of the author. The territory of the three-year-old tigress, known as T138, spreads across the grasslands east of the Pandai river in Bihar’s Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR). The area lies along the India-Nepal border and is part of the Chitwan-Parsa-Valmiki transboundary tiger landscape. The tigress stalked spotted deer and wild pigs yet rarely encountered people. Two decades ago, however, the landscape was far from ideal tiger habitat. The road from Manguraha, headquarters of the reserve’s easternmost range, to Gaunaha block headquarters passed through a three-kilometre stretch lined with stone crushers. Tractors carrying boulders extracted from the Pandai riverbed through legal and illegal mining operations filled the air with thick dust and the deafening noise of machinery. Tigers largely remained west of the river. Efforts to curb mining in the landscape formed part of a wider legal battle over forest conservation. A key intervention came through the Supreme Court’s proceedings in T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India of 1995, a landmark case on forest conservation. In December 2002, the Court stayed a Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) order restoring two mining leases within Valmiki Wildlife Sanctuary. In February 2005, it accepted recommendations by the Central Empowered Committee to stop mining inside national parks and wildlife sanctuaries and their safety zones. Following the closure of mining operations, grasslands reclaimed the disturbed riverbed, followed by the return of medium and large herbivores — the prey base on which tigers depend. Tigers subsequently began using the area. According to All India Tiger Estimation reports by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), tiger occupancy (area occupied by tigers) in VTR increased from 510 square kilometres in 2006 to 750 square kilometres in 2010. T138 was captured in the same restored area, which was part of her territory. She can therefore be an epitome of this conservation success. Gaurav Ojha, field director of Valmiki Tiger Reserve and leader of the capture operation, said T138’s natal area and territory overlapped with her mother’s territory. In contrast, her father’s territory extended across Valmiki and Nepal’s Parsa National Park. Although she used areas close to human settlements, she has had very few negative interactions with people and is a proficient hunter. A new responsibility for T138 These characteristics were important considerations in selecting a suitable tiger for translocation to Buxa Tiger Reserve in northern West Bengal, in the Himalayan foothills along the India-Bhutan border, in a region known as the Duars. On October 2, 2026, T138 was released into Buxa as part of efforts to restore its tiger population. The reserve had struggled for more than a decade to retain even a single resident tiger. Tiger translocation has been used as a recovery tool in India, with successes in Rajasthan’s Sariska and Madhya Pradesh’s Panna, but failure in Odisha’s Satkosia tiger reserve. Translocations have also helped strengthen tiger populations in Uttarakhand’s Rajaji and Rajasthan’s Ramgarh Vishdhari tiger reserves. T138’s move marks a deeper milestone. VTR, once derided as a tiger “reserve without tigers” because of the low frequency of tiger signs and its neglected conservation status, has recovered to become a potential source of tigers for other reserves. Her journey is not just about restoring tigers to Buxa, but about turning one reserve’s recovery into hope for another. From management morass to source population Valmiki was brought under Project Tiger in 1994, after decades of forest management focused on revenue generation and timber plantations at the expense of wildlife habitat. Depleted prey, weak protection and administrative neglect had taken a toll on the reserve. At one point, staff went without salaries and wages for 12-14 months. Law-and-order problems until the early 2000s further hampered protection and management efforts. When I began conservation work in Valmiki with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) in 2003, even finding evidence of a tiger was a milestone. Camera traps I opportunistically set up in 2005-06 recorded a breeding tigress, keeping my hopes alive for the reserve’s recovery. A legal intervention by WTI co-founder, the late Ashok Kumar, helped regularise staff salaries in 2002. Recovery gained momentum after Nitish Kumar, then Bihar chief minister, visited the reserve for the first time in 2010, strengthening political support. NTCA guidance and regulatory support, improved habitat management, capable forest managers, and the recruitment of local people into protection teams further strengthened conservation efforts. Management effectiveness evaluations conducted by the NTCA and WII reflected this progress. VTR was rated “satisfactory” in 2006 and 2010, and achieved “very good” ratings from 2014 onwards. By 2022, the reserve held 54 tigers. Once struggling to retain its tigers, VTR had become a potential source of dispersing animals that could help restore populations in other forests. A reserve waiting for its tigers The story of Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) has run in the opposite direction. Tiger population declined around 2009-10. The 2010 national estimation found no tigers in camera traps, although a scat DNA analysis study by Aaranyak suggested 15 were present. In 2014, scat analysis conducted as part of the All India Tiger Estimation recorded two tigers. Since then, no firm evidence of resident tigers has emerged, only occasional signs of animals passing through. The Wildlife Institute of India categorises Buxa as part of the Northeast Hills and Brahmaputra Flood Plains tiger landscape. In 2022, the wider block comprising Manas National Park, BTR, Neora Valley National Park and Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary across northern West Bengal and Assam held 61 tigers, with connectivity extending into Bhutan. Manas remains the only major tiger stronghold on the Indian side of the tiger population. Poaching, depleted prey and habitat degradation have been highlighted as key reasons for Buxa’s decline in All India Tiger estimation and Management Effectiveness Evaluation reports. Forest fragmentation, encroachment, tea gardens, the Siliguri-Alipurduar railway line and National Highway 31 have disrupted wildlife corridors across the northern Bengal Duars and adjoining Assam. Nearby populations in Raimona National Park and Bhutan’s Phibsoo Wildlife Sanctuary are limited, making natural recolonisation a slow and uncertain prospect. Translocation therefore emerged as a way to recover tigers in Buxa. A question of genes The (NTCA)’s protocol emphasises the importance of selecting genetically compatible source populations for tiger reintroductions. A 2019 study by researchers at the Wildlife Institute of India, based on tiger scat samples collected across India, found that Valmiki’s tigers form a distinct genetic cluster within the Terai, separate from the Dudhwa-Corbett-Rajaji populations. As Valmiki’s forests remain connected to Nepal’s Chitwan and Parsa national parks, the researchers suggested that this distinction reflects an ancient natural separation rather than recent isolation. The study also found that tigers in north-east India, including the broader landscape to which Buxa belongs, form India’s most genetically distinct group. This may reflect historical gene flow with Indochinese tigers, currently found in Myanmar and Thailand. The researchers recommended sourcing tigers for reintroductions from the same broad genetic group wherever possible, identifying Manas and Kaziranga as the closest genetic matches for the region. Future reintroductions from these reserves, alongside genetic monitoring of Buxa’s population, could support recovery while safeguarding the region’s distinctive genetic heritage. The road ahead for Buxa T138’s release came after years of groundwork. The reserve augmented the prey base, strengthened protection and relocated two of the more than three dozen villages in Buxa’s core and buffer zones. But a single tigress cannot find a population, and plans are already underway to bring in more tigers, including males. Tiger recovery will depend on prey. Sustaining prey numbers will require active habitat management and reduced grazing pressure from domestic livestock, which compete with wild herbivores for food. Frontline staff will also need better training and resources to monitor tigers and prey, along with effective protection on the ground. As the population grows, tigers dispersing out of Buxa could help repopulate the wider landscape. That depends on keeping the links between Buxa, Raimona and Manas in India and Phibsoo in Bhutan open. Tackling poaching threats beyond the reserve’s boundaries will be crucial. This will require coordinated planning among West Bengal, Assam and Bhutan. Tiger recovery may increase the likelihood of human encounters. Conflict management plans must anticipate human-tiger interactions and the possibility that tigers pushed out by leopards move closer to villages. Local concerns over traditional forest rights and livelihoods also need attention. These issues could strain relations among stakeholders. Communities living in the tiger landscape need the knowledge, skills and resources to coexist with the animals over the long term. Community institutions such as eco-development committees should be strengthened so they can act early rather than react to crises. Relocating villages to create inviolate habitat for tigers must be voluntary and fair, and backed by the best possible facilities. Partnering with experienced organisations could help build trust and develop livelihoods for forest-dependent communities. Ecotourism can contribute, but it cannot be the only option. Fringe villages urgently need dedicated programmes that offer socially inclusive livelihoods suited to local conditions. The region’s tea gardens could also play a constructive role in conserving the landscape. If handled well, BTR could become a landscape where tiger recovery and human wellbeing reinforce each other. T138 was raised in a riverine landscape restored to health, and she could now carry Valmiki’s conservation story into another tiger reserve. Banner image: A tigress captured on camera trap in Valmiki Tiger Reserve in 2005. Image courtesy of Wildlife Trust of India. The author is Chief Ecologist at the Wildlife Trust of India, a non-governmental organisation working on wildlife conservation in India. Read more: As tigers spill beyond reserves, India rethinks conservation