Bangladesh, 12 other countries meet in Russia today to draw up plan
Leaders of a few countries, where tigers are still found in the wild, have gathered for a make or break summit in Russia to save the critically endangered animal and thrash out a global recovery plan to double its numbers by 2022.
Premiers from 10 countries will attend the International Tiger Conservation Forum, which starts in St Petersburg today. Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, China’s Wen Jiabao and Vladimir Putin of Russia, among others, will join the summit.
The forum, scheduled to conclude on Wednesday, will also discuss proposals on protecting habitat, tackling poaching and finance conservation.
According to World Wildlife Fund (WWF) reports, tiger numbers worldwide have slumped from an estimated 100,000 over the past century, due to poaching and human encroachment.
It is now believed that there are not more than 3,700 tigers left, of which only about 1,000 are breeding females.
The situation is so critical that four of the 13 countries attending the summit — China, Vietnam, Cambodia and North Korea — no longer have viable breeding populations, according to a study released last month.
In Bangladesh, 450 tigers are living in the Sunderbans, as revealed by a 2004 study. The 6,017-square-kilometre forest is considered as the habitation of the highest number of big cat in a single forest in the world.
The survey found the number of big cats is ranging between 400 and 450, including 21 cubs.
There are warnings that without major advances, some populations will disappear within the next 20 years, read a statement of Wild Life Division of Bangladesh.
“Here is a species that is literally on the brink of extinction,” said the statement, signed by Tapan Kumar Dey, conservator of forest, adding “This is the first time that world leaders have come together to focus on saving a single species, and it is a unique opportunity to mobilise the political will that is required in saving the tigers.”
Since 2000, tigers have killed more than 193 people, while 29 tigers were beaten to death and some others were found dead in the forest, according to official records of the forest department.
As per an announcement of the Asian Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation held in Thailand in February, Bangladesh is working to double the number of global tiger population within 2022.
With the help of Global Tiger Initiatives, Bangladesh has already developed a National Tiger Recovery Programme and Tiger Action Plan.
