West Bengal’s tiger relocation programme has suffered another setback after Dooars Rani, a three-year-old tigress, escaped from a specially constructed acclimatisation enclosure inside Buxa Tiger Reserve for the second time and reportedly moved towards Assam.
The tigress, which was brought back to Buxa last week after being traced in Assam, escaped from the 2.2-hectare enclosure on Sunday afternoon, November 9, by digging a tunnel beneath the concrete foundation of the perimeter fence, forest department officials said.
According to officials, the enclosure was secured with a concrete foundation measuring around two feet in thickness and four feet in depth. However, the tigress managed to dig underneath the structure and make her way out. Her absence was noticed at around 2 pm, following which forest personnel launched efforts to trace her.
Her radio collar is still functional, allowing forest officials to monitor her movements through tracking signals. Sources said the tigress had crossed the Bala river and was moving towards Assam. Her last known location was reported to be near the 27-mile forest village inside Buxa Tiger Reserve.
The forest department has deployed around 60 forest guards, three elephants and senior officials to locate the animal. However, tracking efforts have been challenging as the tigress frequently moves through forest stretches where radio signal reception is poor.
This is the second time Dooars Rani has moved out of Buxa since her relocation from Bihar’s Valmiki Tiger Reserve under West Bengal’s first tiger relocation programme.
On October 24, the tigress had strayed into Assam, travelling more than 100 km from Buxa Tiger Reserve. After nearly 10 days of search efforts, a joint operation involving the forest departments of West Bengal and Assam successfully traced her at Gilaguri in the Dotma area of Assam’s Kokrajhar district. She was tranquillised on November 3 and subsequently brought back to Buxa.
Following her return, forest officials placed her inside the specially designed acclimatisation enclosure to help her adjust to the new surroundings before being released into the reserve.
However, her latest escape has raised fresh concerns over the challenges involved in relocating tigers and the effectiveness of the arrangements made to keep the animal within the acclimatisation facility.
Forest officials are continuing the search operation to establish her current location and ensure her safe recovery. Her repeated movement towards Assam has also brought renewed attention to the need for coordination between the forest departments of the two neighbouring states in tracking and managing the relocated tigress.
