Find fate of Buxa tigers: Valmik Thapar asks Bengal

Tiger expert Valmik Thapar Monday urged the West Bengal government to "find out" the plight of tigers in the Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) in northern part of the state, in the light of no photographs emerging to substantiate the claim of presence of three big cats.

"I think in West Bengal its a big wake up call for your forest department, for your chief minister (Mamata Banerjee), for finance minister Amit Mitra who I hear has been placed in the state board of wildlife, to go and find out what happened to Buxa because it is the same Sariska, Panna (tiger reserves) scenario," Thapar said during a presentation at the Kolkata Literary Meet here.

He said: "They are claiming there could be three tigers from scat samples but they never got one picture of a tiger there so as far.

"As far as the official census is concerned you have a vacant area without tigers," he said.

Requesting the state government to ensure the survival of the big cats in BTR, located in Bengal's Jalpaiguri district, Thapar requested youngsters to make sure it doesn't become the "shame of India".

"It is really important for young naturalists and wildlifers to go on missions to the forest department, to the government and get more engaged in the day to day running," he said.