Wildlife rescue surge in Tinsukia: Can Assam curb trafficking & restore habitats in 2026?

Guwahati: Forest officials and wildlife conservationists in Assam's Tinsukia district rescued hundreds of wild animals and birds in 2025, responding to distress calls from tea gardens, villages, highways, and wetland areas.

The operations covered important ecological zones, including Dibru–Saikhowa National Park, Dihing–Patkai National Park, and Maguri–Motapung Beel, where human activities increasingly overlap with wildlife territories.

Rescues this year included rare Bengal slow lorises, various owl species, snakes, leopard cubs, and a stranded elephant calf. These incidents underline Tinsukia’s biodiversity richness while highlighting rising pressures on forests and wetlands. “Every rescue reminds us that animals are losing space faster than we realize,” said a forest rescuer involved in multiple operations.

Across the district, experts point to encroachment, timber smuggling, wetland degradation, and shrinking forest corridors as key drivers pushing wildlife into conflict-prone zones. Illegal wildlife trafficking continues despite periodic enforcement efforts.

“We manage to intercept some networks, but more coordinated action is needed,” a forest official noted.

The Assam Forest & Environment Ministry has stepped up patrolling, launched awareness campaigns in tea garden belts, and strengthened rescue infrastructure.

However, conservationists argue that deeper, long-term measures are essential. They emphasize scientific habitat restoration, wetland revival, and community participation as critical pillars for reducing conflict and preventing trafficking.

As the year ends, a pressing question emerges: Can Assam significantly restore habitats, curb trafficking, and reduce human–wildlife conflict in 2026? Experts say meaningful progress is possible but only with persistent government focus and adequate investment in field-level conservation.

They recommend a combination of intelligence-driven anti-trafficking operations, more mobile rescue units, revival of Maguri–Motapung wetlands, grassland regeneration in Dibru–Saikhowa, and village-based conservation programs that offer alternative livelihoods to reduce pressure on forests. “Real change comes when communities and forest teams work together,” said a conservation volunteer.

In summary, Tinsukia’s high rescue numbers in 2025 demonstrate strong commitment on the ground. But the challenge ahead is to transform these rescue successes into lasting habitat protection and reduced wildlife distress in 2026.