Last phase of tiger census in Sundarbans begins

The last phase of tiger census using ‘pugmark (footprint)’ method began in the Sundarbans on Thursday.

Two teams of 18 trained workers have started the ‘sign survey’ work after identifying two areas as tiger zones. They will collect the pugmarks from the entire Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans.

tigerSources said at least 150 points, each of 25 square kilometers, have been identified for collecting the pugmarks of tigers.

The two teams started collecting pugmarks from rivers, canals, chars in Dubla and Haldibunia areas under the Sundarbans East Zone. Two more teams of trained workers will join the work on March 1.

The exact number of tigers will be determined after examining both the pictures captured using ‘camera trapping method’ and the pugmarks, said the project officials.

Earlier in the second phase, the project workers collected the pictures of tigers using camera-trapping method that had begun on November 11, 2014.

A team of workers, led by Dipanjan Nahar, a scientist of Wild Life Institute of India conducted the work after dividing the Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans into three blocks, said Jahidul Kabir, a Coordinator of Camera Trapping Project.

In the first phase of the Bangladesh-India joint tiger census project, completed in April, 2014 beginning on November 1, 2013, 89 infrared cameras were used to capture tigers’ photos within a 3,000-sqkm area in the Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans.

Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world covering an area of 6017 square kilometers, in the southwest of Bangladesh is the habitat of the world famous Royal Bengal Tiger.

In 2004, a survey showed that the total number of Bengal Tigers in the Bangladesh part was 440. The census was conducted using the pugmark (footprints) method. But the Sundarban’s Royal Bengal Tiger is fast becoming extinct.

During the past 100 years, the tiger population shrunk from over 100,000 to a mere 3,000 across the globe.

In 2010, the governments of 13 tiger range countries (TRCs) took an initiative to double the number of tigers by 2022.

In continuation of the plan, a three-day 2nd Global Tiger Stocktaking Conference 2014 was held in Dhaka. About 140 representatives from 20 countries, including the 13 tiger range countries, and donor agencies took part in the conference.

Dr Nurjahan Sarkar, a professor of Dhaka University Zoology Department, said the number of tiger population in the Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans will be known from the photos and the pugmarks of tigers.

Jahidul Kabir said the tiger census report will be made public on completion of the analyses to be conducted jointly by India and Bangladesh.

The two-year tiger census project, involving TK 2.15 crore, is being implemented with financial assistance from the World Bank.

-UNB


Share:

Leave a Reply

Verified by MonsterInsights