A three-year-old tigress was released in Buxa Tiger Reserve on October 2.
She was named T138.
She came from Bihar’s Valmiki Tiger Reserve.
It is West Bengal’s first tiger reintroduction.
More tigers are planned.
Buxa had no resident tigers before the release, although a camera trap had recorded a tiger that was believed to have entered from Assam or Bhutan.
Chief Minister Adhikari said three more tigers would be released in the next two months, according to the Free Press Journal.
Forest Minister Manoj Kumar Oraon said six tigers in all would be introduced in phases, with five more over the next three years, in 2027, 2028 and 2029.
Other reports said more tigers were expected from Assam’s Manas or Kaziranga reserves.
The reports differ on the pace of the later releases, with the two ministers describing different timetables.
The Chief Minister also announced a tourism centre planned on about 2,000 acres near Jayanti, according to the Free Press Journal.
The release date had been pushed back from an earlier plan because of the monsoon and delays in relocating villages inside Buxa.
Buxa Tiger Reserve lies in the Alipurduar district of north Bengal, close to the borders with Assam and Bhutan.
Reintroduction means releasing animals into an area where the species has disappeared, with the aim of building a population that can sustain itself.
A tiger translocation involves capturing and tranquilising the animal, moving it, and releasing it under monitoring in the new habitat.
Officials have been preparing Buxa for years, and reports mentioned grassland restoration and the release of chital as prey.
A three-year-old tigress identified as T138 was released into the core zone of the Buxa Tiger Reserve in West Bengal’s Alipurduar district on Friday, October 2.
Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav released the tigress, with West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari present, according to reports.
Bengal tigress at Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (representative image), Wikimedia Commons, CC0