Unfortunate decline of tigers in the Sundarbans

It would be a welcome step if the Bangladesh Forests Department (BFD) finally becomes successful to release some male tigers into the Sundarbans to restore the necessary balance between tiger’s male-female ratio. For increasing the number of tigers, this step is crucially important.

It is unfortunate that with the gradual denuding of the forest, biodiversity of the forest vital for keeping ecological balance suffered extinction. This has affected the tiger population also. A tiger census was made in 2015 and it was found that within a period of 11 years the Sundarbans lost 332 tigers. The decline is really bewildering. Why such a huge number of tigers would face extinction in the forest when there was a necessary government department to protect the biodiversity of the forest? What did it do?    

The ability of the country’s concerned department comes in sharp contrast when it is put against that of its India’s counterpart as we find tiger population in India’s part of the Sundarbans is actually increasing despite the fact that India’s part of the forest is much smaller than the Bangladesh’s one.

BFD tells us that the male-female tiger ratio is 5:1 in the West Sundarbans, while it is 1:10 in the East Sundarbans. According to experts, the ideal male-female ratio is 1:3. Obviously there is an ample dearth of male tigers in the Sundarbans. So there is a clear need to increase the male tiger population in the forest.

The neglect shown to forest over the years is monumental. Had that not been the case, the government would have stopped industrialization of the area. In stopping poaching also it would have been successful. There is allegation that people responsible for protecting the biodiversity and the forest cover are themselves involved in the dishonest act of felling trees and poaching of animals including the tiger. While the ministry of environment and forest must answer about their neglect, it should immediately take drastic measures to conserve the forest and stop illegal poaching.

We have been told that BFD already received allocation of Tk 48 crore under the tiger conservation project for conducting the tiger census between 2020 and 2021. The result will be disclosed in 2022. It is expected that we would be able to hear about positive development in the forest.

 

 

Unfortunate decline of tigers in the Sundarbans

It would be a welcome step if the Bangladesh Forests Department (BFD) finally becomes successful to release some male tigers into the Sundarbans to restore the necessary balance between tigers male-female ratio. For increasing the number of tigers, this step is crucially important. It is unfortunate that with the gradual denuding of the forest, biodiversity of the forest vital for keeping ecological balance suffered extinction. This has affected the tiger population also. A tiger census was made in 2015 and it was found that within a period of 11 years the Sundarbans lost 332 tigers. The decline is really bewildering. Why such a huge number of tigers would face extinction in the forest when there was a necessary government department to protect the biodiversity of the forest? What did it do? The ability of the countrys concerned department comes in sharp contrast when it is put against that of its Indias counterpart as we find tiger population in Indias part of the Sundarbans is actually increasing despite the fact that Indias part of the forest is much smaller than the Bangladeshs one. BFD tells us that the male-female tiger ratio is 5:1 in the West Sundarbans, while it is 1:10 in the East Sundarbans. According to experts, the ideal male-female ratio is 1:3. Obviously there is an ample dearth of male tigers in the Sundarbans. So there is a clear need to increase the male tiger population in the forest. The neglect shown to forest over the years is monumental. Had that not been the case, the government would have stopped industrialization of the area. In stopping poaching also it would have been successful. There is allegation that people responsible for protecting the biodiversity and the forest cover are themselves involved in the dishonest act of felling trees and poaching of animals including the tiger. While the ministry of environment and forest must answer about their neglect, it should immediately take drastic measures to conserve the forest and stop illegal poaching. We have been told that BFD already received allocation of Tk 48 crore under the tiger conservation project for conducting the tiger census between 2020 and 2021. The result will be disclosed in 2022. It is expected that we would be able to hear about positive development in the forest.