A village-based tiger response team has again showed great courage to save a tiger of the Sundarbans.
On December 10, a tiger suddenly came out of the forest and entered the village Uttar Rajapur, under Sharankhola range of the Sundarbans. It then killed a cow and returned to the forest, says a Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh (WTB) press release.
As the villagers became scared and agitated thinking about the return of the tiger, a village-based tiger response team (VTRT) of Dashervarani came to their aid.
The VTRT members communicated with the local forest department offices and went on patrol with forest officials that night.
They also communicated with the authorities concerned of the local mosque and convinced them to announce a cautionary notice repeatedly. During the announcement from the mosque, they requested the villagers to remain calm, alert and safe.
“If we can save a tiger then the Sundarbans will be protected. And if the forest is protected our livelihoods would be secured. There is no other way except saving the tiger,” said Md Dulal Chaprashi, team leader of the Dashervarani VTRT.
Ashraful Haque of Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh (WTB), who helped the villagers set up VTRT teams, said, “Still our tiger conservation approaches have a long way to go. But obviously in the case of building the field-level capacity to deal with the immediate tiger-human conflict needs, it is obviously a feather in the cap for the village teams. With this kind of supportive people, the tiger has a much better chance of survival in future.”
Prof Anwarul Islam of WTB also mentioned, “The VTRT is a community-based team which has been formed by the joint initiative of the Forest Department and the Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh.”
At present there are 29 village-based teams around the adjacent areas of the Sundarbans. The team members will also control the crowd that forms when a tiger strays into a village until the forest department officials reach there, he said, adding that all the members of VTRT are volunteers and they spend their time to help save tigers and keep their villages safe.
