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| A tiger in the Sundarbans. |
Five years ago, the decline of tiger population in the Sundarbans mangrove forest caused a great deal of concern to the conservation community of Bangladesh. However, in recent times, the forests are signs of recovery of the species. This positive turn of events is an outcome of a series of committed efforts initiated by the government of Bangladesh and several stakeholders showing promising results, renewing hope for the survival and growth of tigers. The main strategies used in this joint conservation campaign have focused around conserving the tigers' habitat, dealing with prey scarcity issues, and tackling poaching through a concerted community-based approach. These actions have not only helped tigers but also the whole Sundarbans ecosystem. The latest surveys carried out simultaneously by the government's forest division, German Cooperation, and the Swiss unit of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) revealed two very important discoveries. The surveys have noticed a reassuring increase in populations of prey species such as chital (spotted deer), wild boars, and monkeys in the Sundarbans. In addition, the surveys also hinted that the forest may now be containing a higher number of tigers due to successful habitat conservation measurements.
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| Spotted deer herd in the Sundarbans. |
One of the surveys titled "Status of Tiger Prey Species in the Sundarbans of Bangladesh" highlighted the importance of six prey species for tigers. It indicated that even though the number of barking deer has decreased, the populations of spotted deer, wild boars, and monkeys have increased in number over the past thirty years. The number of spotted deer, which comprises 79 percent of the tigers' prey consumption, was 1,41,357. The last census recorded the population to be 80,000-85,000 in the 1980s. Wild boars, which contribute about 11 percent of prey consumption, were found to have increased to 45,110 from around 28,000. According to M.A. Aziz, professor in Jahangirnagar University's zoology department and one of the researchers involved in the study, the result of the survey would mean that crucial measures can be taken for the conservation of tiger prey species. He further stressed that prey species need to be protected from poachers.
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| A tiger in its mangrove forest habitat. |
Another survey, a four-month camera trapping study stretching 1,615 miles in the forest's western zone, is being carried out by the forest department. 1,330 cameras were set up to record tigers and their prey in the mangroves. The census currently shows that at least 53 percent of the cameras revealed the tigers' movement, garnering hope and optimism about the increased numbers. Some of the images were of tigers in places where they had not been recorded in the last two censuses. The survey is scheduled to be completed in April 2024, and the number of tigers recorded will be annouced on July 29. According to Sundarban West Division Forest officer Abu Naser Mohsin Hussain, tiger numbers may increase since the government took various measures over the years to protect them. One of them was increasing the amount of protected areas, in which the government proclaimed 52 percent of the Sundarbans as protected areas in 2020 from only 23 percent earlier. In addition, the government has also focused on curbing human-tiger conflict. Mohsin stated that there has not been a single human-tiger conflict in the last five years.
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| View of the Sundarbans |
I truly admire the efforts Bangladesh has put in ensuring the protection of tigers in the Sundarbans. It's amazing to see the roles played by both the government and various stakeholders which resulted in promising outcomes for both the tigers and other wildlife. One of the things that struck me was that there was no reported incident of human-tiger conflict in the Sundarbans in the last five years. This is really extraordinary since human-tiger conflict has been one of the main issues in the Sundarbans for decades. An implementation of 49 village tiger response teams whose job is to protect any tiger that strays into a locality and help the villagers must have contributed to the mitigation of human-tiger conflict. But this probably had occurred on the Bangladeshi side of the Sundarbans. Could it be possible that majority of human-tiger conflicts are currently occurring on the Indian side of the Sundarbans? I think this is something that should be looked into thoroughly in order to get a better understanding of the overall Sundarbans' human-tiger conflict situation. I was also surprised to hear that the Sundarbans were terrorized by pirate gangs some years ago; a situation which has quelled since 2018. It's interesting to see that dangers in the Sundarbans not only come in the form of tigers or anything nature-related, but at one point in the form of human beings. The alleviation of Sundarbans' pirate situation in the forest also helped in tiger conservation by allowing the big cats to stay undisturbed guaranteeing an ideal breeding environment. While there has since been no threat of piracy, I think there should be measurements implemented to ensure it stays that way. This includes patrolling of Sundarbans' waters by both India's and Bangladesh's coast guards. In addition, a joint collaboration between both the countries' governments and stakeholders should be implemented in protecting the Sundarbans' wildlife and villagers. This would further improvise the conservation of tigers and other wildlife in Bangladesh and India.
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