Training begins to install cameras in Sundarbans for tiger survey
UNB
Hands-on-training on camera installation to capture images of tigers began in the Sundarbans, the countrys only natural habitat for the big cats, yesterday, reports UNB.
The training programme has started as part of a new tiger census. A total of 35 staff of the Forest Department and the Bengal Tiger Conservation Activity Project (Bagh Activity) are taking part in the programme, which will continue next 4 to 5 days, said divisional forest officer of Khulna (wildlife management and nature conservation) Madinul Ahsan.
Indian wildlife expert Dr Sandip Sharma is conducting the training.
The new tiger census will begin soon using camera trapping method to access tiger population in the mangrove forest. It will be a robust survey, which will identify the possible accurate number of big cats in the Sundarbans, according to official sources.
In the first phase, a total of 400 cameras will be installed in Satkhira range of the Sundarbans West Zone, identifying the locations where tigers frequently move around, Madinul said.
He said six trained teams of the Bangladesh Forest Department will be involved in camera-trapping.
Two American experts of Washington-based Conservation Biology Institution will monitor the tiger census under the Bengal Tiger Conservation Activity Project (Bagh Activity). In collaboration with the Forest Department, USAIDs Bagh Activity is being implemented by Wildteam with technical support from Smithsonian Institution and Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS).
