A three-year-old tigress brought from Bihar's Valmiki Tiger Reserve has been released into the reserve's core zone to restore a self-sustaining tiger population.

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• A three-year-old tigress, identified as T138, was released into the core zone of Buxa Tiger Reserve in West Bengal on October 2, 2026.
• West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav jointly released her at the start of Wildlife Week 2026.
• This marks the start of the state's first tiger reintroduction programme, which is phased and aims to establish a viable, self-sustaining population.
• T138 was translocated from Valmiki Tiger Reserve in Bihar, chosen for its geographical and environmental similarity to Buxa, after being captured on September 29.
• She left her soft enclosure and entered the forest on the evening of October 4.
• The National Tiger Conservation Authority found no tigers in Buxa, Dampa in Mizoram and Palamu in Jharkhand, and began a reintroduction effort in 2018.
• The Tiger Augmentation and Recovery Project has been run since 2018 by the West Bengal government with support from the NTCA and the Wildlife Institute of India.
• Camera traps recorded tiger movement in Buxa in 2021, 2023 and 2026, though the species had been functionally absent for decades.
• Preparation included releasing more than 800 chital as prey and restoring around 380 hectares of grassland.
• Sixty-four Eco-Development Committees and Joint Forest Management Committees have been engaged, and about 300 families are reportedly being relocated.
• Buxa lies in North Bengal and forms part of a connected landscape extending towards Assam and Bhutan.