"Reintroduction succeeds only when the reasons for local extinction are addressed first." Examine this with reference to the Buxa Tiger Reserve.

Reintroduction means bringing a species back to an area where it has died out locally. Buxa (West Bengal) was declared a Tiger Reserve in 1983. It still lost its resident tigers because its habitat was degraded and broken up, land use changed and prey became scarce [1]. On 2 October 2026, tigress T138 was moved from Valmiki (Bihar) and released in Buxa as Phase 1 [1]. The release tests whether those causes have been fixed.

Why the causes must be fixed first

• Legal status did not protect the tigers: Buxa lost its tigers while it was a Tiger Reserve. Tigers also died out locally in Sariska and Panna, and both had to be restocked [1][2].
• Prey and habitat restored before release: The Tiger Augmentation and Recovery Project has run since 2018 (West Bengal with NTCA and WII). It released over 800 chital (spotted deer) and restored about 380 ha of grassland [1].
• Protection strengthened: Buxa was rated 'Good' in the 5th-cycle Management Effectiveness Evaluation of tiger reserves [3].
• Sariska shows it can work: Its reintroduced tigresses are breeding, and the reserve now holds around 20 tigers [2][4].

Necessary, but not enough on its own

• Inputs are not outcomes: No figures yet show whether the released chital are breeding. Tigers need a prey base that renews itself [1].
• One female is not a population: Further phases depend on prey, protection readiness, population viability (the chance of long-term survival), monitoring results and expert advice [1].
• Corridors still matter: A tiger seen in Buxa in 2023 was matched to Manas (Assam). The official plan says adding tigers must support natural recovery, not replace it [1].
• Local support: The programme works through 64 EDCs/JFMCs (village forest committees). Unmanaged human–wildlife conflict could undo the gains [1].

Way forward

• Use T138's radio-collar data to warn villages when she moves close to fields or settlements [1].
• NTCA should publish what was learned at its national reintroduction workshop, which reviewed nine sites [5].
• Plan the corridor jointly with Bhutan, where Buxa's landscape continues [1].

Buxa shows that fixing the causes of extinction is the precondition for success. Lasting success also needs connected corridors, local support and time. India holds about 75% of the world's wild tigers [6]. Judging Buxa by the official measure, a self-sustaining population rather than the number of tigers released [1], would advance SDG 15 (Life on Land).