A top zoologist has appealed to the Bangladesh government to take expeditious measures to save the Royal Bengal tigers in the Sundarbans after a survey found their numbers dwindling alarmingly.
Published : 28 Jul 2015, 12:10 PM
There were 440 tigers in the Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans, according to the 2004 Tiger Census (following pugmark tracking).
But the 2013-2015 Forest Department Survey (using hidden cameras) concluded that there were only 106 tigers left in the Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans.
Wildlife Institute of India offered technical support to the survey.
In the West Bengal part of the Sundarbans, the number of tigers have risen to 76 in 2014 from 70 in 2010 that compares poorly to the 30 percent rise in India's Tiger population in the same four-year phase.
The findings of the Bangladesh forest survey has come to light two days before the International Tiger Day on July 29.