With the decrease in the activities of forest robbers and poachers in the Sundarbans, experts and Forest Department officials expect an increase in the number of tigers in the world's largest mangrove forest.

They think the tigers of the Sundarbans, the world's largest abode of the big majestic cat, are now well-protected and their movement is safe as the activities of forest robbers and poachers have decreased to a large extent following smart patrolling in the forest. As the Sundarbans tigers survive combating various natural disasters, there is no chance of their disappearance from the mangrove forest even if all the tigers get extinct from the rest of the world, said a wildlife expert.

According to sources, the number of tigers in the world's forests has dwindled to only 4,000 from 100,000 over the last 100 years. Three sub-species of tiger out of total eight have already become extinct from the world. Striped big cats used to be found in 13 countries even one year ago but the number of the countries has now stood at 12 with the majestic cat going out of existence.

The tiger is categorized as the critically endangered species due to deforestation, piracy and poaching worldwide. As part of the government's efforts to engage people around the Sundarbans, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in protecting the tigers, the 'Tiger Day' is being observed nationally outside Dhaka for the last two years. This year, the 'Tiger Day' will be observed on Sunday. The theme of this year's day is: 'Save the tiger, save the forest, protect the Sundarbans'.

According to Forest Department officials, tigers are being surveyed in the Sundarbans through 'camera trapping' for the second time. In 2017-2018, the images of tigers were captured installing cameras in different places under four ranges of the Sundarbans. Now, the work to analyze the captured images is underway. According to the survey conducted in the Sundarbans through the 'camera trapping' in 2013-2015, the number of tigers in the Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans is 106. In the Sunbarbans, every tiger, known as flagship species of the forest, identifies a 14-16 sqkm area as its home range for living and tigers roam almost throughout the forest.

Forest officials said the activities of bandits and poachers have seen a decline in recent times following the introduction of smart patrolling which has ensured the safe movement of the tigers.

However, the tigers have to face different climate-related phenomena like salinity, storm-tidal surge and river waves, they said. For this, tigers sometimes invade locality. On January 23 last, a tiger, which entered Gulishakhali village in Morelganj upazila, was beaten to death by locals.

Source: The Daily Star