Location:
- Location: Alipurduar, northern West Bengal, across the Terai–Bhabar and sub-Himalayan foothills.
- Boundaries: Bhutan to the north and Assam to the east, linking with Phibsoo WLS and Manas NP.
- Elevation: 60–1,750 m, covering the Sinchula hills.
- Rivers: Raidak, Sankosh and Jayanti drain the reserve.
Status & Conservation History
- Buxa Tiger Reserve was declared in 1983 as India’s 15th Tiger Reserve and became a National Park in 1992. It later faced a decline in its resident tiger population due to habitat fragmentation and human pressures, prompting NTCA-WII supported tiger augmentation and translocation efforts.
Biodiversity & Ecology
- Forests: Moist Sal Savannah, Terai Sal, Himalayan Mixed Deciduous and Sub-Tropical Wet Hill forests.
- Flora: Sal, Champa, Gamar, Simul and Chikrasi.
- Fauna: Elephant, Gaur, Sambar, Clouded Leopard, Indian Leopard and Chinese Pangolin.
- Birds: 280+ species, including Bengal Florican and the Black-necked Stork.
Conclusion
- Buxa Tiger Reserve is a strategically located Dooars–Eastern Himalayan protected landscape in West Bengal, important for tiger, elephant and Indo-Malayan biodiversity and for transboundary ecological connectivity with Bhutan.
| This concept has been elaborately discussed in the following article Tigers Return to Buxa Tiger Reserve |