World Tiger Day Wednesday

The World Tiger Day will be celebrated in the country, as elsewhere across the globe, on Wednesday to raise funds to save the remaining population of the big cat from extinction.

Tiger population is decreasing alarmingly in the Sundarbans region of Bangladesh, a World Heritage Site and home to the Royal Bengal Tiger, reports UNB.

There were only 106 Bengal Tigers in Bangladesh in the Sundarbans, according to the 2015 Tiger population census.

Earlier, the 2017-2018 Tiger Census listed 114 tigers on the Sundarbans side of Bangladesh.

According to the Department of Forest, 48 tigers perished between 2001 and 2020. Among them, 22 died in the East Division of Sundarbans and 16 died in the West Division.

Besides, law enforcers recovered ten tiger hides during this period.

Md Amir Hosain Chowdhury, Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF), said that a project named 'Bagh Songrokkhon' (Tiger Conservation) was initiated, which would be submitted to the Ministry concerning next month.

The three-year project cost has been set at Tk 48 crore, adding that, if approved, the project would start operations by January 2021.

WildTeam Chief Executive and Dhaka University Zoology Department Professor Dr. Md Anwarul Islam said thousands of people rely on the Sundarbans.

All people should be involved in conserving the tiger population and political people should also be trained.

WildTeam wishes to establish a tiger-sensitive village in Sundarbans-adjacent area and they have already experimental activities in three villages in Satkhira, he added.

Mohammad Belayet Hossain, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Sundarbans East, said the smart patrol is involved in the Sundarbans as well as their frequent drives against tiger poachers.

Boshirul Al Mamun, DFO, Sundarbans West District, said the major poachers were held under strict surveillance.

Bangladesh-India Joint Tiger Census Project conducted the tiger census in 2015, examined 1,500 images and footprints of tigers from the Sundarbans through camera trapping and found the horribly low figure of tigers.

According to the Tiger Census carried out by the government in 2004, the Bangladesh portion of the Sundarbans was home to 440 tigers.

The International Tiger Day has been observed every year since the St Petersburg Tiger Summit on 29 July 2010.