Assam: Dibru Saikhowa Reports First-Ever Royal Bengal Tiger Sighting

After nearly 15 years of anticipation, the Assam Forest Department has confirmed the first-ever sighting of a Royal Bengal tiger in Dibru-Saikhowa National Park in Upper Assam, marking a significant milestone for wildlife conservation in the state.

The presence of the big cat was established through camera-trap footage captured in the park’s core area, officials said. Dibru Saikhowa, renowned for its population of feral horses and the endangered white-winged wood duck, is connected to Arunachal Pradesh through a forest corridor and is surrounded by six rivers — the Dibru, Dangori, Lohit, Kundil, Dibang and Siang — giving it the character of an island ecosystem.

Forest staff have been tracking signs of a tiger in the park since 2009–10, when pugmarks were first detected. However, repeated efforts over the years to visually confirm the animal proved unsuccessful. Forest guard Santanu Phukan, who has been closely involved in the search, said the breakthrough followed a series of encouraging clues.

In January last year, the discovery of wild buffalo bones along with fresh pugmarks deep inside the forest strongly suggested a tiger kill, renewing hopes among the field staff. Their persistence paid off a year later when camera traps conclusively recorded the presence of a full-grown adult Royal Bengal tiger.

Assam Forest Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary shared images of the tiger on social media on Tuesday, hailing the development. For frontline staff, the sighting is being seen as a major achievement that could pave the way for Dibru Saikhowa to gain recognition as a tiger reserve.

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

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. This confirmation will hopefully strengthen conservation efforts, boost tourism and help position eastern Assam as a major wildlife destination,” Phukan said.

To intensify monitoring, the department expanded its camera-trap exercise in December last year, bringing in additional equipment from the Digboi division and the Wildlife Trust of India. A total of 65 camera traps were deployed across the park, including 35 in the Guijan range, making it the largest such exercise undertaken in Dibru Saikhowa.

According to the Kundaghat forest camp, fresh pugmarks were reported from Salibari Mukh on December 16. Follow-up visits and footage analysis by Guijan range forest officer Debashish Dutta and his team on December 19 confirmed the tiger’s presence. Another sighting was recorded at the same location on January 1.

“This clearly establishes that Dibru Saikhowa has the ecological conditions required for tigers. It has the potential to emerge as a new site for tiger conservation,” Dutta said, adding that the development could be the first step towards the park joining Assam’s existing tiger reserves such as Kaziranga, Manas, Orang and Nameri.

Also Read: Suspected Royal Bengal Tiger Body Parts Recovered in Assam