Itanagar, May 8 (IANS) A Royal Bengal Tiger has been recorded at Arunachal Pradesh’s D Ering Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary for the first time in nearly two decades, with officials on Friday confirming the sighting through camera trap evidence collected inside the sanctuary near Pasighat.

An official of the Arunachal Pradesh Forest and Wildlife Department said that the sighting has been captured through camera trap surveys conducted in the Wildlife Sanctuary with technical support from the Ashoka Trust Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE).

He said that the last confirmed tiger evidence inside DEMWS dates back to 2005, with only unverified sightings reported until around 2007-08.

The latest camera trap images convincingly established the tiger’s presence in the landscape, the official said.

A baseline survey published by the World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature in 2014 had painted a grim picture, finding no pugmarks or camera trap evidence of tigers and citing rampant hunting by poachers as the likely cause of their disappearance.

The broader landscape had already been showing signs of renewed tiger activity — as recently as January 2026, foresters of the Jonai forest range in Assam reported spotting pugmarks of an adult Royal Bengal Tiger in Kobu Chapori, a proposed reserve forest situated adjacent to the sanctuary along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh boundary. Divisional Forest Officer Kempi Ete described the moment as deeply moving.

“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,” she said, crediting frontline forest staff, Eco-Development Committees and local community organisations for their sustained role in protecting the landscape.

The recent survey also documented the Critically Endangered Chinese Pangolin and the rare Endangered Hispid Hare, further reinforcing the ecological importance of the sanctuary’s unique riparian grassland ecosystem, the only one of its kind among protected areas in Arunachal Pradesh.

Over the past year, forest officials had observed indirect signs suggesting possible tiger movement within the landscape. Earlier surveillance rounds failed to yield photographic proof, but officials pressed on with renewed intensity and persistence before finally recording the big cat on camera.

“Its 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,” said a wildlife expert.

The D Ering Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary, located around 13 km from Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh’s East Siang district, spans a protected area of about 190 square km.

It was established in 1978 and surrounded by the Siang and Sibya rivers, it is a key habitat for tigers, leopards, wild buffaloes and migratory birds.

The Forest Department officials stated that they would continue to strengthen habitat protection, scientific monitoring and community-led conservation efforts aimed at ensuring long-term wildlife survival in the landscape.

–IANS

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