The Tiger census has started in Sundarbans
Tiger census has started in Sundarbans, and 665 spots of Sundarbans, cameras have been installed for tracking. The findings will disseminate in June 2024.
Begum Habibun Nahar, Deputy Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Bangladesh, inaugurated the tiger-counting program by trapping method in the Kalabagi area of Sundarbans. After the inauguration, cameras have installed in the Haldibunia area of the Satkhira range.
Abu Nasser Md. Mohsin Hossain, Director of Sundarbans Tiger Conservation Project and Divisional Officer of Sundarbans West Forest Division, said,
“A census will determine the number and current condition of tigers to protect the biodiversity of the forest. A total of 665 spots will cover under four ranges of the Sundarbans area, and two cameras will install in each spot to observe and collect data. ‘’
According to the information from the Forest Department, the MoEFCC approved the Sundarbans Tiger Conservation Project at the cost of BDT.35.93 million on March 23 (2022) to collect updated information on tigers and conserve tigers. The duration of the project is until March 2025.
Mr. Mohsin, Director of the Tiger Conservation Project, said, “Tiger census has done in the same manner in 2015 and 2018. However, before 2015 census has done by looking at footprints.
Since last December 15, 2022, work has been done by surveying the two sides of the canals under the Kalabagi Foreign Foundation to observe the movement and footprints of tigers. Through this canal survey, tiger footprints will observe in the entire Sundarbans.
Moreover, cameras are now placed 50 cm above the ground along with forest trees. Each point will have two cameras for 40 days. The camera battery and memory card will change every 15 days.
If a tiger, deer, pig, or other animal passes in front of the camera, that picture and 10 seconds of video will record automatically.
Once the camera trapping and canal survey are complete, all the data will send to the Resource Information Management System Unit of the Forest Department in Dhaka. After the review, the census results will announce in June 2024.”
MA Aziz, a tiger researcher and professor of zoology at Jahangirnagar University, who is part of the census team, said, “It is essential to know the number of tigers in the Sundarbans for management activities.
If the survey shows that the number of tigers has increased, then it can understand that the management is good. Moreover, if the number of tigers has decreased, it will understand that the management is deficient. Then it can take action accordingly.”
However, the zoology professor believes that the number of tigers in the Sundarbans will increase this time.
The Royal Bengal Tiger of Sundarbans is the national animal of Bangladesh. According to the 2018 survey, the number of tigers in the Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans is 114. In 2015, this number was 106.
