In Sunderbans, Bengal forests dept radio collars tiger to research man-animal dispute.
Key points:
- Tiger strays are popular in the Sunderbans, where human settlements, and tiger territories, are divided into several places by just a river.
- Located at the southern tip of West Bengal, the Sunderbans account for the largest number of citizens killed in India by tigers.
- Officials claimed that in order to collect data on their home range and territories, tigers were previously collared in the Sunderbans.
- In the Sunderban Biosphere Reserve, the forest department has always prioritized the scientific management of biodiversity.
For the very first time, forest department officials including wildlife experts in the Sunderbans are using satellites as well as radio signals to research tigers and analyze the human-tiger conflict throughout the largest mangrove delta in the world, which has about 100 big cats.
The Sunderban Tiger Reserve (STR):
On Sunday, a male tiger captured as well as fitted with a satellite radio collar was released back into the wild near a human settlement in the Basirhat area of the Sunderban Tiger Reserve (STR).
Tiger strays are popular in the Sunderbans, where human settlements, as well as tiger territories, are divided into several places by just a river.
The top forest department official stated:
“Officials with the wildlife wing of the West Bengal government as well as experts from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) fitted a tiger with a collar and released it into the STR to evaluate human-tiger interactions via telemetry,” a top official of the forest department said, seeking anonymity.
Located at the southern tip of West Bengal, the Sunderbans account for the largest number of citizens killed in India by tigers. Between 2015 as well as 2019, at least 62 people have been killed throughout the state by tigers, as per figures put before the Lok Sabha on September 23. Maharashtra took second place with 61 deaths.
The further official added:
Over the years, incidents of tigers deviating into the bordering villages have also been brought down by placing nylon fences everywhere along the boundary of the forest.
However, when they reach the forest to catch crabs, fish as well as collect honey, people are still attacked and sometimes killed,” said a forest official.
Officials claimed that in order to collect data on their home range and territories, tigers were previously collared in the Sunderbans.
Yet this is the first time that the data can be used to determine the conflict between humans and tigers.
Forest officials have said that three new tigers will soon be collected.
The movement habits of tigers in the vicinity of human settlements will be observed for at least the next 3 years.
The state’s chief wildlife steward VK Yadav:
“In the Sunderban Biosphere Reserve, the forest department has always prioritized the scientific management of biodiversity. This project would help control and protect the tigers, their environment, and the human population, and also help to understand the behaviour including patterns of habitat usage of the tigers, says VK Yadav, the state’s chief wildlife steward.
