kolkata: Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) in North Bengal has been ranked 8th among all tiger reserves in the country by National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) under its MSTriPES (Monitoring System for Tigers Intensive Protection and Ecological Status) program.
MSTriPES is a platform, in which modern technology is used to assist effective patrolling, assess ecological status and mitigate human wildlife conflict in and around tiger reserves.
The program uses Global Positioning System (GPS), General Packet Radio Device (GPRS) and remote sensing to collect information from the field, create a database using modern technology-based tools.
"It is a matter of pride for us as BTR for the first time has made it among the top ten in the protection intensity index of NTCA," state chief wildlife warden, Debal Roy, said.
The MSTriPES application was launched in November, 2016 for BTR. "Whenever a forest official be it a forest guard, beat officer or a range officer patrols the forest area with an MSTriPES enabled-device, we can centrally monitor the movement. It provides a clear idea whether the exercise is being carried out
properly or there is any lacunae. The database of management of all the ranges can be
monitored and necessary directions are given in case the patrolling needs further improvement," a senior official of the state Forest department said.
Situated in Alipurduar district, BTR is a biodiversity hotspot under Eastern Himalayas. It is home to majority of the species belonging to the cat family, including leopards. There are also common clouded leopards, jungle cats and fishing cats. The herbivore list includes elephants, Indian gaur, chital, sambars, barking and hog deers.
Interestingly, the detailed 2018 report released by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in July 2020 on "Status of Tigers, Co-predators and Prey in India" indicates zero tiger count in BTR as no camera trap could capture big cats.
However, at least two tigers' photos were captured by
the team of Wildlife Institute
of India in the recent past, which has confirmed the presence of the predator in Buxa, argued the Forest department hospital. There has been
more than one sighting of black panther too in BTR in recent times.
Among the 53 tiger reserves in the country, there are two in Bengal, including at Sunderbans and Buxa.
The tiger reserve has an area of about 757.9 sq km, of which 390 sq km lies in the core area and 367 sq km in the buffer zone.