Post by ranibilkis88888 on Feb 17, 2024 8:38:02 GMT
Bangladeshi authorities have decided to install nylon net fencing in the Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest , to address human-tiger conflict and protect both communities and the endangered big cats . The move is part of the Bangladesh Forest Department's three-year Sundarbans Tiger Conservation Project , launched in March 2022, and aims to keep tigers and humans out of each other's spaces. “Initially, we will erect polypropylene net fences for 60 kilometers in the Sundarbans. And the work of installing net fen WhatsApp Number List cing will start taking shape next fiscal year 2023-2024,” said project director Abu Naser Mohsin, who is also the divisional forest officer of Bangladesh's Western Sundarbans. The Sundarbans, at the mouth of the Bay of Bengal, is the only mangrove habitat in the world where tigers ( Panthera tigris ) are found. But the ecosystem continues to degrade due to human and natural causes. The human population in the area is growing, with communities largely dependent on the forest for their livelihood. This makes the overexploitation of natural resources, land reclamation, pollution, fishing and agriculture among the main drivers of mangrove degradation. Large swaths of the Sundarbans are also drying out as the rivers and canals that flow into it fill with sediment, allowing people to access parts of the mangrove forest they would not have been able to access before.
People can easily enter the forest there to earn a living and locals often send their cattle and buffaloes to the Sundarbans to graze, attracting tigers to attack domestic animals,” Mohsin said. The increasing proximity between tigers and humans also means that big cats are more exposed to diseases carried by domestic animals such as dogs, he added.In view of this, a net fence will be installed along the dry riverbeds and canals so that people and their domestic animals cannot enter the Sundarbans, Mohsin said. Human-tiger conflicts on the rise Tigers and humans have always managed an uneasy coexistence in the Sundarbans, but the overlap has intensified in recent years. In the early hours of January 12 this year, two tigers crossed the Bhola River and wandered through part of Sonatala village in Bagerhat Municipality. In that case, the tigers returned to the forest without any incident. In many other cases, however, terrified villagers attack and kill the tigers in their midst. For tigers, villages with their captive livestock are easy hunting grounds, and they frequently swim across rivers to reach these settlements, often at night. According to the Forest Department, tigers in the Sundarbans have entered human settlements more than 50 times in the last 15 years, with casualties on both sides during these incidents. Forest Department data shows that 49 tigers died in the Sundarbans between 2001 and 2021 . However, Mohsin said some 300 people and 46 tigers have died in human-tiger conflicts since the turn of the century. A 2018 survey revealed only 114 tigers as the estimated tiger population in the Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans (the western part is administered by India).
While that is marginally higher than the 106 estimated in 2015, it is a sharp drop from the 440 estimated in 2004. Poaching, human-tiger conflict and natural disasters have contributed to the rapid decline of big cats in the Sundarbans, Bangladesh's only natural tiger habitat. Indian example shows that fences can help In India's West Bengal state, which borders Bangladesh, Sundarbans National Park authorities have already installed nylon net fencing along a 90km stretch of mangroves. Since then, they have seen a dramatic drop in the reported number of tigers entering human settlements. Doing the same in Bangladesh should prevent tigers from entering villages here and at the same time prevent people from entering the forest, thus minimizing the potential for conflict between humans and tigers, according to Ishtiaq Uddin Ahmad, former chief conservator of forests and former country representative for IUCN, the global authority for wildlife conservation. M. Monirul H. Khan, professor of zoology at Jahangirnagar University in Dhaka and co-author of the Bangladesh Tiger Action Plan , also welcomed the fencing plan as an effective means of addressing the problem. “And local communities will strive to conserve tigers as their enmity mentality against big cats diminishes,” he added.
People can easily enter the forest there to earn a living and locals often send their cattle and buffaloes to the Sundarbans to graze, attracting tigers to attack domestic animals,” Mohsin said. The increasing proximity between tigers and humans also means that big cats are more exposed to diseases carried by domestic animals such as dogs, he added.In view of this, a net fence will be installed along the dry riverbeds and canals so that people and their domestic animals cannot enter the Sundarbans, Mohsin said. Human-tiger conflicts on the rise Tigers and humans have always managed an uneasy coexistence in the Sundarbans, but the overlap has intensified in recent years. In the early hours of January 12 this year, two tigers crossed the Bhola River and wandered through part of Sonatala village in Bagerhat Municipality. In that case, the tigers returned to the forest without any incident. In many other cases, however, terrified villagers attack and kill the tigers in their midst. For tigers, villages with their captive livestock are easy hunting grounds, and they frequently swim across rivers to reach these settlements, often at night. According to the Forest Department, tigers in the Sundarbans have entered human settlements more than 50 times in the last 15 years, with casualties on both sides during these incidents. Forest Department data shows that 49 tigers died in the Sundarbans between 2001 and 2021 . However, Mohsin said some 300 people and 46 tigers have died in human-tiger conflicts since the turn of the century. A 2018 survey revealed only 114 tigers as the estimated tiger population in the Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans (the western part is administered by India).
While that is marginally higher than the 106 estimated in 2015, it is a sharp drop from the 440 estimated in 2004. Poaching, human-tiger conflict and natural disasters have contributed to the rapid decline of big cats in the Sundarbans, Bangladesh's only natural tiger habitat. Indian example shows that fences can help In India's West Bengal state, which borders Bangladesh, Sundarbans National Park authorities have already installed nylon net fencing along a 90km stretch of mangroves. Since then, they have seen a dramatic drop in the reported number of tigers entering human settlements. Doing the same in Bangladesh should prevent tigers from entering villages here and at the same time prevent people from entering the forest, thus minimizing the potential for conflict between humans and tigers, according to Ishtiaq Uddin Ahmad, former chief conservator of forests and former country representative for IUCN, the global authority for wildlife conservation. M. Monirul H. Khan, professor of zoology at Jahangirnagar University in Dhaka and co-author of the Bangladesh Tiger Action Plan , also welcomed the fencing plan as an effective means of addressing the problem. “And local communities will strive to conserve tigers as their enmity mentality against big cats diminishes,” he added.