Royal Bengal Tiger Spotted in Arunachal Sanctuary After Nearly 20 Years
ITANAGAR, India — A Royal Bengal tiger has been recorded at Arunachal Pradesh’s D. Ering Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary for the first time in nearly two decades, forest officials said Friday.
The sighting was confirmed through camera trap images collected inside the sanctuary near Pasighat. The surveys were conducted by the Arunachal Pradesh Forest and Wildlife Department with technical support from the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment.
Officials said the last confirmed evidence of a tiger inside the sanctuary dated back to 2005. Unverified sightings were reported until around 2007 or 2008, but no confirmed evidence had been recorded since then.
A 2014 baseline survey by the World Wide Fund for Nature had found no pugmarks or camera trap evidence of tigers in the sanctuary and cited widespread hunting by poachers as a likely reason for their disappearance.
The broader landscape had recently shown signs of renewed tiger activity. In January, forest officials in Assam’s Jonai forest range reported pugmarks of an adult Royal Bengal tiger in Kobu Chapori, a proposed reserve forest near the sanctuary along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border.
Divisional Forest Officer Kempi Ete called the confirmed sighting an important moment for conservation.
“The return of the tiger after nearly two decades reflects the resilience of the ecosystem and the cumulative impact of sustained conservation efforts on the ground,” Ete said.
She credited frontline forest staff, Eco-Development Committees and local community organizations for helping protect the landscape.
The recent survey also documented the Critically Endangered Chinese pangolin and the Endangered hispid hare, reinforcing the ecological importance of the sanctuary’s riparian grassland ecosystem. Officials said it is the only protected area of its kind in Arunachal Pradesh.
Forest officials had observed indirect signs over the past year suggesting possible tiger movement in the area. Earlier surveillance rounds did not produce photographic evidence, but officials continued monitoring until the animal was recorded on camera.
“It’s a good news for us. The return of Royal Bengal Tiger in the Wild life sanctuary will attract tourists to visit the wildlife sanctuary. We are very much happy with the news,” a wildlife expert said.
D. Ering Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary is located about 13 kilometers from Pasighat in East Siang district and covers roughly 190 square kilometers. Established in 1978 and surrounded by the Siang and Sibya rivers, the sanctuary is an important habitat for tigers, leopards, wild buffaloes and migratory birds.
Forest officials said they will continue strengthening habitat protection, scientific monitoring and community-led conservation efforts to support long-term wildlife survival in the area. (Source: IANS)
