Bangladesh Sees Significant Drop of Big Cats in Sundarbans Forest

Posted by on August 1, 2015 

11 years ago, more than 400 Bengal tigers roamed in the Subdarbans forest in Bangladesh. The area of land is considered one of the largest for wild, big cats but concerns are arising regarding the future of these majestic creatures. Wildlife experts installed cameras around the forest to correctly estimate the amount of tigers that roam through the green-filled region.

Bangdalesh’s wildlife conservator, Tapan Kumar Dey, said “we have around around 106 tigers in our parts of the Sundarbans.”The experts believe this is a more accurate figure compared to previous studies which relied on pugmarks left behind by the animals.

A larger population of Bengals reside in India, where more than 2,000 were accounted for. Smaller numbers reside in China, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangdalesh. The considerable drop of the tiger population has many wildlife experts concerned in the country. They are imploring the government step up and implement protective measures. Reportedly, the reasons for the drop in the population is due to poaching, and development/expansion of cities near the forest.

Bangladesh experts are not the only ones concerned with the drop in numbers. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) notes 97 percent of the wild tigers population was eliminated over the past century. They estimate less than 3,500 tigers remain in the world today.

WWF faults the human building process, illegal poaching and retaliatory kills for reducing the numbers greatly. India and Bangladesh wildlife experts joined together to collaborate on a project to save more of these big cats. With the animals edging towards the serious danger of becoming extinct in the near future, experts demand more is done to protect the natural environment of these beautiful animals.

Interested in helping? The WWF has ways for the public to assist. Any one can become a monthly member to support the tigers, and the organization also implores visitors to sign a petition to demand the release of captive tigers in the United States. The petition is intended to alert the Obama administration to close the loopholes regarding tiger captivity.

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