Finds joint study
The Bangladesh portion of Sundarbans is the best habitat for tigers as this beast of prey here can hunt within the radius of only 15 square kilometres, one of the smallest home range in the globe.
This reflects that a tigress here has ample supply food and the forest can potentially support a much healthier population of tigers. It also implies that this mangrove habitat can help secure the future for the endangered species.
The findings emerged through a joint study using geographical positioning system (GPS) by the Forest Department of Bangladesh and Minnesota University. The report was published in Oryx, an international journal.
A similar study was conducted on the adult tigresses in Russia, India and Nepal. Of the countries, Nepal has the same home range as Bangladesh.
According to the study, a tigress in India has to prowl around 16 to 27 sq km for a hunt while in Russia up to 400 sq km, said a press release of Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh, co-implementer of Project Tiger Bangladesh.
The researchers collared two Sundarbans tigers and monitored them for six months. Of the two, one was comparatively old and died after six months into the monitoring while the other was released back to the wild after removing its collar.
Naser Hossain, Assistant Conservator of Forest was the co-author of the study with Dr Adam Barlow of the Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh and the zoological society of London.
Image (above) caption: Hides, skulls and bones of poached tigers on display at the forest office of East Zone of the Sundarbans in Bagerhat on Wednesday. Photo: STAR
