After 15 Years, Assam's Dibru-Saikhowa Records Its First Royal Bengal Tiger

Guwahati: After more than a decade of waiting, Dibru-Saikhowa National Park in Upper Assam has recorded its first confirmed presence of a Royal Bengal tiger, a moment wildlife officials are calling historic for conservation in the region.

The Assam Forest Department verified the big cat’s presence through camera-trap footage captured deep inside the park’s core zone. The confirmation comes nearly 15 years after forest personnel first began tracking indirect signs of a tiger in the area.

Nestled between six major rivers — Dibru, Dangori, Lohit, Kundil, Dibang and Siang — Dibru-Saikhowa is known for its riverine island ecosystem. The park, already famous for its feral horses and the rare white-winged wood duck, also shares a forest corridor with Arunachal Pradesh, making it a potential passageway for large carnivores.

Forest officials first noticed tiger pugmarks in the park around 2009–10, sparking long-standing speculation about the animal’s presence. Despite repeated field surveys and tracking exercises, visual confirmation remained elusive for years.

The breakthrough began to take shape in January last year when forest staff discovered the remains of a wild buffalo along with fresh pugmarks inside a remote forest patch — signs consistent with a tiger kill. Encouraged by these findings, monitoring efforts were intensified.

Persistence finally paid off when camera traps recorded a full-grown adult tiger, conclusively establishing its presence in Dibru-Saikhowa.

Forest guard Santanu Phukan, who has been involved in tracking the animal since the early years, described the confirmation as deeply rewarding. “For those of us who have waited and worked for this moment, it is unforgettable. This could be a turning point for conservation in eastern Assam,” he said.

To strengthen surveillance, the Forest Department expanded its camera-trapping programme in December, deploying 65 cameras across the park — the largest such exercise ever conducted in Dibru-Saikhowa. Of these, 35 were installed in the Guijan range alone, with additional equipment sourced from the Digboi division and the Wildlife Trust of India.

According to officials at the Kundaghat forest camp, fresh pugmarks were reported from Salibari Mukh on December 16. Subsequent field inspections and footage analysis by Guijan range forest officer Debashish Dutta and his team confirmed the tiger’s presence on December 19. The same individual was captured again on camera on January 1, reinforcing the findings.

“This proves that Dibru-Saikhowa offers suitable habitat for tigers,” Dutta said. “With sustained protection and monitoring, the park could emerge as a new centre for tiger conservation.”

Assam Forest Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary also acknowledged the development, sharing images of the tiger and describing the sighting as a major boost for wildlife protection efforts in the state.

Dibru–Saikhowa National Park and Biosphere Reserve, under the Tinsukia Wildlife Division, has created history with the first-ever recorded sighting of a Royal Bengal Tiger at Salibari in the Kundaghat area of the park.@himantabiswa@CMOfficeAssam@assamforestpic.twitter.com/EoaCFXw2tG

— Chandra Mohan Patowary (@cmpatowary) January 20, 2026

Officials believe the confirmation could eventually strengthen Dibru-Saikhowa’s case for being notified as a tiger reserve, adding to Assam’s existing strongholds such as Kaziranga, Manas, Orang and Nameri.

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